A planning inspector has sent a strong message after dismissing plans for a “monolithic” digital advertising board by a key junction in Farnham.

Surrey County Council appealed after plans to install a digital panel next to Hickley’s Court was rejected early this year by Waverley Borough Council.

The council wanted the 2.75m by 1.14m metre LED panel to become a “shop window” by promoting some of its messages, local products and services, highway plans and initiatives like Active Travel.

But a government inspector has sided with WBC and Farnham Town Council, who also strongly objected to the installation of the double-sided board. They felt it would conflict with the Farnham Neighbourhood Plan (FNP) policy on advertisement control and criticised the “inappropriate location” of the proposal.

Waverley councillors agreed with FTC’s view and refused planning permission amid visual concerns and the “increased sense of clutter” within the street scene.

Cllr Graham White, FTC leader, said he was delighted with the news and the role the FNP played in the decision given the result of some recent appeals.

He said: “The FNP aims to preserve Farnham’s unique characteristics and prevent it from becoming like any other town.

“The proposal to install this advertising monolith was ill thought out and totally out of keeping with the urban landscape.

“This is a small but significant victory for residents’ wishes and demonstrates the significance of the FNP in influencing and shaping our town.”

In his decision notice, the planning inspector recognised how the trees and Farnham in Bloom planters contribute to the ‘low-key feel’ of Hickley’s Corner.

He expressed how he was “strongly of the view that an illuminated advertisement display of the scale, and in the position, proposed would be visually alien and appear as a less than low-key format in a prominent location.”