An application to install a digital display totem on Bridge Street has been refused by Stafford Borough Council.

A proposal which sought "consent to display up to 15 different digital advertisements, interchanging with passenger transport information, on a 300 second loop within a double sided, steel digital display unit/totem" was submitted in August 2024.

The totem would have been provided by JMW Systems LTD, a company based in Stone,  specialising in real time software.

The application states: "The primary reason for installing the totems is to provide RTPI, this provides up to date information to passengers about arrival and departure times of their buses, significantly enhancing their journeys by giving them more accurate information about bus services. 

"It is much more accurate than a paper timetable as delays can be reported on a minute by minute basis; paper timetabling simply is no longer fit for purpose in an area which services a significant number of routes."

The proposal claims that the "secondary" use of the totem would be advertising and that it would provide "local companies including charities and public interest groups with access to cost effective advertising, supported by the local authority."

However, the proposal was refused by Stafford Borough Council because the totem would be "visually intrusive" and "would harm the visual amenities of the area and have an unacceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the Stafford Conservation Area and the setting of the grade II Picture House on the opposite side of Bridge Street".

The council also said: "the recent installation of a galvanised metal flat-roof bus shelter adjacent to the proposed board would mean that the proposal would contribute to visual clutter in this location, to the detriment of the surrounding historic character."

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Read the full application here.