Fulham FC advertisements installed near West London's Bishops Park will remain in place despite significant local opposition, Hammersmith and Fulham Council has confirmed.
The banners are among 36 commercial advertisements erected in and around the Grade II-listed park. Twelve non-illuminated double-sided banners, some promoting Fulham FC, have already been placed on Stevenage Road, which borders the park. The council intends to add five more. Eighteen banners have also been installed within Bishops Park itself, many showcasing the new Fulham Pier development.
Planning approval amid objections
The Planning and Development Committee approved two planning applications for the advertisements on Tuesday despite receiving hundreds of objections. The applications for Bishops Park and Stevenage Road received 164 objections and 95 objections respectively.
Marc Medina, a resident of the Bishops Park area for 30 years, told the local authority that the advertisements had changed the character of the green space. "For 133 years people have come to Bishops Park for its openness, tranquillity, its historic landscape and distinctive civic character. Today for the first time that experience has changed," he told the committee. "People visiting from either Bishops Road, Stevenage Road or Putney Bridge are immediately, and I do mean immediately, met by commercial advertising that’s promoting a single private development. Those advertisements continue throughout the full length of the park."
Advertisement dimensions and locations
The advertisements located inside the park are 1.6 metres high and 0.6 metres in width. Meanwhile, the banners erected on Stevenage Road are slightly larger, at 2.2 metres high and 0.785 metres wide.
A council case officer, commenting on the first application, said: "The design, size and siting of the advertisements are considered to be acceptable in visual amenity terms and do not have a detrimental effect on the residential amenities of the occupiers of neighbouring properties, or on highway safety. It is considered that the banner advertisements preserve the character and appearance of the Bishops Park conservation area and the registered historic park and garden and do not cause harm to the settings or significance of adjacent designated and non-designated heritage assets."
