- Decision
- dismissed, 2 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: F Harrison
- Authority
- Middlesbrough (North East)
- Appeal reference
- 6010457
- Application reference
- 26/0109/FUL
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- BT Street Hub with advert panels (Appeal A); advert consent Appeal B 6010458 (26/0108/ADV)
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- TR4
- Development plan policies
- Middlesbrough Core Strategy 2008 DC1, CS5, emerging Publication Local Plan 2025 CR2, CR8, IN7
- Main issues
- highway safety; safe places
Summary
BT Street Hub on a roadside footway at a supermarket car-park junction near a busy crossroads. Both appeals dismissed on highway and public safety grounds. The crime concern was rejected, and the inspector expressly found accordance with P5 and TR4 on safe places (DL ¶16). The 2026 Framework brought "no material changes in policy emphasis" (DL ¶6).
What made the difference
The junction context: drivers exiting across two lanes, with no visibility-splay evidence. Benefits of a single hub were "modest" where other hubs exist nearby (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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TR4 | fail | hub at roadside edge next to supermarket car-park junction and busy signalised crossroads — blocks visibility and distracts drivers (DL 9-14); code mapped by harvester | |
| P5 | pass | no substantive site-specific ASB evidence; ASB management plan by condition; "in line with Framework Policy P5" and TR4 safe places (DL 15-17) | |
| CO1 | benefit | limited | benefits "modest" — single hub and other hubs nearby (DL 18-21) |
| DM4 | neutral | limited | emerging PLP weight limited — no information on objections (DL 4); code mapped by harvester |
Key facts
- 30mph four-lane Newport Road with right-turn filter into Aldi car park; no visibility-splay evidence from appellant (DL 9-10)
- Earlier Middlesbrough hub allowed at Southfield Road (6003065/6003067) distinguished (DL 13)
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.