Crawley Question Time 2022: Crawley residents fear that ‘advertising will dominate everywhere we look’

Crawley Question Time was hosted at Crawley College Wednesday, March 10 and included a panel of guests from the key sectors that form the town.

The panel featured Councillor Peter Lamb, Councillor Duncan Crow, Councillor Michael Jones, Chief Inspector Shane Baker, Deputy Youth Mayor Shelly Sharma, Dr Pennie Ford and Dr Laura Hill.

LED digital display boards have appeared around Haslett Avenue, which has prompted fears that the advertising boards will be distracting to drivers and potentially cause road accidents.

The digital display boards can be found outside Three Bridges Football Club and The Snooty Fox. The boards aren’t just a distraction for drivers, but also pedestrians using the paths in and around the area.

Question submitted by an audience member: “The LED display boards are posing a risk to drivers and pedestrians in Haslett Avenue. Who is responsible and what can be done to prevent potential accidents from happening?’

Cllr Peter Lamb, replied: “I’m not particularly sympathetic to the owners of the Snooty Fox as it’s purely for profit there, but the ones within the grounds of Three Bridges Football Club I’m a bit more sympathetic about because of the enormous amount of work the club does to promote youth football.

“There is a valued question about how far we want advertising to dominate everywhere we look. We do know that it has an impact on people psychologically, there is a responsible question to ask about do we want these going up everywhere.

“We can look into what can be done by that.”

Cllr Duncan Crow, replied: “I’ve been looking at the signs more now since the issue has been raised and aesthetically, personally I don’t mind the one by the Snooty Fox but the ones by the football club look a bit odd when I drive past.

“I wouldn’t want to see too much proliferation but if they are in line with planning policy, they are in line with planning policy. We aren’t Leicester Square, but we don’t want to see too many of them.”

Shane Baker, Chief Inspector of Sussex Police, said: “We see more of these things going up now and they are even inside of Police Stations now, with TVs strapped to every wall with briefings to my officers. You can’t hide from it anywhere. It’s the same in society.

“I can’t say that I’m aware of any specific incidents.”

Member of the public, asked: “Maybe they are just a bit too bright?”

Shelly Sharma, Deputy Youth Mayor, said: “I do agree with that and I’ve had an experience where I’ve been driving down the road and the lights have distracted me.

“I understand why the screens are there, but I think we need to relook how the digital displays are presented, in terms of design, brightness, where it's positioned etc.”

See more: Crawley Question Time 2022: Crawley health services want to ‘plan more intuitively for the needs of the population’, Crawley Question Time 2022: Friends of Goffs Park ask ‘The kiosk is the heart of Goffs Park, and the park needs it back!’, Crawley Question Time 2022: The future use of Tilgate Park and how difficult issues can be managed

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