- Decision
- dismissed, 10 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: David Troy
- Authority
- Camden (London)
- Appeal reference
- 6010352
- Application reference
- 2026/0295/P
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- BT Street Hub with double-sided illuminated advert panels (Appeal A planning; Appeal B 6010353 advert consent 2026/0442/A)
- Site context
- inside settlement, conservation area, listed building setting
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6(4), CO1, TR4
- Development plan policies
- Camden Local Plan 2017 D1, D2, D4, G1, A1, C5, C6, T1
- Main issues
- character; appearance and heritage; highway safety; community safety
Summary
BT Street Hub with illuminated advert screens on an open footway next to Grade II Mornington Crescent station in the Camden Town conservation area. Both appeals dismissed. Heritage harm "at the lower level" was weighed under HE6(4) against telecoms benefits, which got CO1 "substantial weight" but were judged "modest". Pedestrian obstruction on a desire line was a separate reason.
Issues and findings
- Transition. The parties were consulted on the 2026 Framework (DL ¶4).
- Heritage — HE6(4): HARM, lower level. "Whilst the degree of harm resulting from the proposed Hub and advertisement on the significance of the CA and the listed station building would be at the lower level, in accordance with Policy HE6 (4) of the Framework, that harm should be weighed against any public benefits" (DL ¶14).
- Benefits — CO1. "whilst given substantial weight in line with the Framework, given the limited scale of the proposals, these benefits would be modest. I therefore find insufficient public benefits arising from the proposals to offset the identified harm to which I attach substantial weight" (DL ¶16).
- Pedestrians: FAIL. The hub "would cause an undue obstruction to pedestrians and impede the free flow of pedestrian movements" (DL ¶21).
- Community safety: PASS. There was "limited substantive evidence … including recent site-specific crime data" (DL ¶25).
Planning balance
HE6(4) harm against public benefits. Both sides are described as carrying "substantial weight". The inspector resolved this by treating the benefits as modest in scale, not by lowering the formal weight label.
What made the difference
An open, uncluttered footway next to a listed station, with the hub on a pedestrian desire line. The off-site kiosk removals counted for nothing: one had already gone and the other was not on the site.
Transferable points
- CO1 "substantial weight" to telecoms benefits does not fix their scale. Benefits can carry substantial weight and still be "modest" (DL ¶16).
- The 2026 grading vocabulary is appearing: harm "at the lower level", weighed under HE6(4) (DL ¶14).
- Generic "crime generator" objections without site-specific data do not found a refusal (DL ¶25).
- A kiosk removal already done, or outside the site, is not a benefit of the scheme and cannot be secured by condition (DL ¶27).
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(4) | harm | substantial | grading — "the degree of harm ... would be at the lower level"; inspector attaches "substantial weight" to the harm; no explicit HE6(1)/HE6(3) wording; s66/s72 duty paraphrased ("special attention must be paid"); harm to Camden Town CA and setting of Grade II Mornington Crescent station; no harm to listed Camden Palace Theatre or Cobden statue (DL 11-16) |
| CO1 | benefit | substantial | telecoms benefits "given substantial weight in line with the Framework" but "given the limited scale of the proposals, these benefits would be modest" — insufficient to offset heritage harm (DL 15-16, 31) |
| TR4 | fail | hub on pedestrian desire line to crossings/station; actual clear width less than claimed 5m because of cafe seating and furniture (DL 19-22); code mapped by harvester | |
| P5 | pass | council/Met Police crime-generator concerns generic, no site-specific crime data (DL 23-26); code mapped by harvester | |
| DM6(1) | fail | condition to remove off-site kiosk fails tests; one kiosk already removed (DL 27) |
Key facts
- Site adjacent to Grade II Mornington Crescent station, in Camden Town CA (DL 7, 11)
- One of two kiosks offered for removal had already gone; the other is off-site (DL 27)
- Pedestrians observed walking across the hub position, a natural desire line (DL 20)
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.