Curved digital ad screen coming to The Bridges shopping centre car park after Sunderland planning win

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has approved an application for The Bridges multi-storey car park at the junction of Vine Place and Crowtree Road, near the current home of TK Maxx.

Applicant Smart Outdoor Limited applied for permission earlier this year to erect an “internally illuminated digital advertising display unit” on the outside of the ‘spiral staircase’ at the site.

Proposed plans described the sign as a “48 sheet digital display” which would measure “5.76m wide x 2.88m high” and council documents confirmed the sign would have a ‘curved’ design to integrate into the façade of the existing tower.

Planning documents confirmed the proposed sign at The Bridges would “present a range of static advertisements, each lasting for not less than 10 seconds” and that the “change between each advertisement would be almost instantaneous with no animation or special effects”.

A planning statement submitted to council officials said the applicant wanted to “improve the delivery of advertising to the area and so facilitate sustainable, relevant, locally focused messaging rather than the display of fixed, often national advertisements and in a location that is suited to advertising use”.

Those behind the scheme added the flexibility of digital signboards had already been demonstrated elsewhere in the region, with signs showing “public messages and the more ready display of non-commercial adverts (such as charity adverts) during void periods.”

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During a council public consultation exercise on the plans, there were no representations submitted.

After considering the planning application, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved it on May 15, 2025.

Council planners, in a decision report, noted that the application aimed to renew a previous planning permission at the site (which has lapsed) to bring forward the new development.

It was noted that the proposed signage was “considered appropriate in terms of its siting, design and appearance, relative to the commercial surrounds”.

In addition, there were no concerns from the council’s conservation team in relation to impacts on “heritage assets” and there were no concerns raised by the council’s environmental health team.

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The council decision report concluded that the proposed display would be “acceptable and would have minimal impact upon visual and residential amenity and public safety”.

The council report adds: “The environmental health team has been consulted in respect of the proposal and raised no objection to the proposal.

“To that end, and in planning terms, the proposed signage is considered to be of such a design and in such a location that it does not give rise to any residential amenity concerns in relation to light pollution, outlook and over dominance, overshadowing / a loss of light, or a loss of privacy.

“In these terms, the application is considered to be acceptable from a visual and residential amenity point of view […] the council’s highway engineers have, subject to compliance with a suite of recommended conditions, raised no concerns over the scale, massing, and siting of the proposed installation from a highway safety perspective.

“To that end, subject to adherence to the recommended conditions over the lifetime of the development, the proposal is not considered to compromise access and or highway safety.”

In recent months, applications for large digital advertising screens have been refused in other parts of Wearside at appeal, including an application near Sunderland Royal Hospital and an application in Fulwell’s Sea Road.

Concerns in the cases included the visual impact of the signs, and in the case of the plan near Sunderland Royal Hospital, highway safety impacts.

Applicants for the site at The Bridges said the proposed sign’s “slim, simple design” would be “readily absorbed into the street scene” and that the proposed location was “comparable in height to streetlighting”.

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On highway safety issues, applicants added that it would be “extremely unlikely that any driver who is exercising a reasonable degree of care for their own and others safety would be so distracted or confused by the proposed sign as to cause harm”.

The planning statement adds: “This application seeks to renew a previous grant of consent with the area seeing no material change since that conditional approval.

“Further, there has been little change to the content of policy direction since the 2015 decision and a growing use (and thus acceptance) of digital roadside advertising across the UK.

“The principle of signage in active, ever-changing commercial settings such as this is well established and we consider that this proposal allows the advertising offering to the area to be delivered in a modern, forward-thinking and sustainable way by taking advantage of digital sign technology and in a location that is away from more overtly residential areas or open spaces.

“We further consider that the display of signage alongside this easily driven section of road would not automatically cause any harm to public safety as it is set back from the vehicle carriageway and away from official signs and signals.

“The proposal if permitted, will not harm future generations and can be easily removed at a later date to allow future development needs.”

The proposed site for the digital screen sits near the new Holmeside ‘bus gate’, which includes enforcement cameras at a new ‘bus only’ section of Holmeside, and thousands of motorists have already been fined since the scheme went live last year (2024).

Under planning conditions linked to the advertising consent, the new digital sign at The Bridges is granted for a “period of five years”.

For more information on the plans, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 25/00577/ADV