Council seeks approval for digital screens in town centre

By Alan Rodgers

a.rodgers@ulsterherald.com

APPROVAL is being sought by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to install digital screens on High Street in Omagh town centre.

It is intended that, if the green light is approved, the new digital hub would replace an existing BT payphone kiosk close to Watterson’s clothes shop.

A planning application was submitted earlier this month for the development, which is one of two planned for the district. The second is in Enniskillen.

In a statement for the proposal, the council says that it wants to install two digital 75-inch LCD displays on each side of the unit in Omagh.

The scale and size of the screens will be no larger than what is already there, and the council intends that it will not detract in any way from the existing character and amenity of the area.

“It wil provide much-needed vibrancy to this area of the town,” the planning statement adds.

However, there will be restrictions in relation to what can be displayed on the two digital screens and for how long. These include that there will be only static images and no moving pictures. In addition, each image can only be displayed for under ten seconds, must blend in with the surrounding environment and that there will be no increase in the street clutter or obstruction of the street.

The new kiosk must also not interfere or resemble traffic signals through its lighting or interfere with passing traffic.

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which has been consulted on the application, has said that the rate of change between successive displays shall be instantaneous and shall not include the sequencing of images over more than one advert or a message sequence, where a message is spread across more than one screen image.

Councillors on the council’s planning committee will now have the task of deciding whether the installation is granted approval.