The proposed 96-sheet advertisement hoarding by virtue of its size (12.5m x 3.35m on a 1.25m high base), its prominent and elevated siting on a mounded landscaping area adjacent to low-level industrial units and a highly trafficked arterial road route into the City Centre, would constitute an adversely dominant feature and also result in loss of a number of established trees that make a positive visual and environmental contribution to this locality. As a consequence, the proposal would be detrimental to the character and amenity of this street scene (Brunswick Road/Erskine Street leading to Islington - A580); an identified Environmental Improvement Corridor. The proposal is therefore contrary to the Core Planning Principles and Sections 4 & 7 of the NPPF, in particular Paragraph 67, and Polices HD18, HD25 & OE15 of the Liverpool Unitary Development Plan.

The proposal would set an undesirable precedent for the proliferation of other unsuitable signage in this locality, which would further detract from visual amenity of this environmental improvement corridor and prominent gateway to the City Centre, and could further undermine public safety.

The proposed 96-sheet advertisement hoarding by virtue of its location close to the heavily trafficked strategic road network (A580) where two arms of the eastbound carriageway (Erskine Street and Brunswick Road) merge and carry a high volume traffic flow travelling at high speed with lane changes required to ensure that the correct route is followed, creates the potential to remove the focus of attention of drivers in an area where attention needs to be strictly concentrated on the manoeuvres necessary to ensure the free and safe flow of traffic. As a consequence, the proposal represents an unacceptable risk to highway safety, contrary to Paragraphs 35 & 67 of the NPPF and Policy HD25 of the Liverpool Unitary Development Plan.