Petition to remove giant M32 billboards

More than 1,700 people have signed a petition calling for the removal of billboards branded a “daily nightmare” for those who live near them.

Residents say that the “extraordinarily large” digital billboards overlooking the M32 are insensitively placed and negatively affect the local community as well as the surrounding environment.

More than 1600 people have signed a petition addressed to mayor Marvin Rees calling for the two advertising screens on Gas Alley and Redding Road to be taken down.

Statements given by the local community at a full council meeting on Tuesday will outline ways in which the advertising screens stream light pollution into nearby homes, distract passing drivers, disrupt local wildlife and “impose an unwanted commercial agenda into public space”.

The overarching campaign to remove billboard adverts like these is called Screened Out and is run by Adblock Bristol, a volunteer group part of a growing movement fighting outdoor corporate advertising in Bristol by promoting “a visual environment which reflects the unique identity of our city, the values of local communities and the local economy.”

One of the 100 testimonials about the issue collected by the organisation is from David Harper, a member of the local community, and reads: “Anyone who thinks these giant screens should remain can’t have the misfortune of living near them. They blight the view from my home, their light pollution is excessive. Their scale and visual intrusion violates the integrity of what is primarily a residential area.”

As well as this, the petition states that residents of the community have already been significantly impacted by the M32 motorway, and argues the brightly-lit billboards would not be erected in more affluent parts of the city.

Polly Whight, a resident of Easton, elaborated: “You would not see these types of screens in wealthier neighbourhoods like Clifton, yet they are inflicted on less well-off areas such as ours. This demonstrates to the community that the council do not care about the aesthetic of our area, how it affects us and our mental wellbeing.”

Residents are concerned that the billboards cause light pollution – photo by Adblock Bristol

The group says that this winter represents a critical juncture in the future of the billboards as their planning consent status will change from ‘express’ to ‘deemed’.

Campaigners of the billboard’s removal explained what this meant, saying: “From this stage onwards, Bristol City Council has an opportunity to remove the screens by issuing a discontinuance notice if it considers the screens to have harmed the amenity of the locality or caused a danger to members of the public.”

Veronica Wignall, who is submitting the petition to the council meeting on behalf of Adblock Bristol, said: “These giant ad screens have been tried and tested, and it is now clear that they have real-world consequences for the people who actually live near them, damaging residents’ quality of life on an everyday basis.

“We’re asking the mayor to hear the voices of more than 1600 people who have signed Adblock’s petition calling for the screens to be removed, and take action to show that Bristol’s communities are more important than corporate profit.”

To read more about Adblock Bristol’s campaign, visit https://adfreecities.org.uk/screened-out/

Main photo by Adblock Bristol

Read more: Campaigners demand ‘intrusive’ digital billboards overlooking M32 are removed 

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