- Decision
- dismissed, 4 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: N Teasdale
- Authority
- Islington (London)
- Appeal reference
- 6008154
- Application reference
- P2025/3485/FUL
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- BT Street Hub 3 replacing a phone kiosk (planning; advert consent decided separately)
- Site context
- inside settlement, conservation area
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6, HE4, S4(1)
- Development plan policies
- London Plan 2021 D3, D4, HC1, T2, Islington Local Plan 2023 PLAN1, DH1, DH2, T4, ST3
- Main issues
- conservation area setting; public safety
Summary
A BT Street Hub replacing a kiosk on Holloway Road, opposite a conservation area, was dismissed. The inspector gave substantial weight to CO1's connectivity benefits. The harm to the CA's setting was nonetheless "at the higher end of the spectrum" (DL ¶17), and the benefits' "magnitude ... is not sufficient to outweigh" it (DL ¶21). Under S4 the benefits were "substantially outweighed" (DL ¶29). There was no public safety harm.
What made the difference
A larger, darker, monolithic unit on an already cluttered footway, read against a Victorian CA frontage. The inspector distinguished the weight of a benefit (substantial under CO1) from its size: a single hub is a small benefit (DL ¶21).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE6 | harm | substantial | harm to setting of Mercers Road/Tavistock Terrace CA "at the higher end of the spectrum" (of less than substantial) from a taller, monolithic hub adding clutter (DL 13-17, 21) |
| CO1 | benefit | substantial | substantial weight to connectivity benefits but magnitude insufficient (DL 20-21) |
| S4(1) | fail | benefits substantially outweighed (DL 29) |
Key facts
- Hub about 2.9m by 1.2m, taller and wider than the kiosk it replaces; the CA is across the road (DL 6-7)
- No re-consultation on the Framework - changes "not substantive or determinative" (DL 3)
Related decisions
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.