Street hubs planned for Exeter

'They are a sleek and modern answer'

More high-tech ‘street hubs’ are being planned.

Hot on the heels of plans for three of the BT hubs in the centre of Torquay – lodged with Torbay Council this week – BT has applied to Exeter City Council to put three of its three-metre advertising screens in the city centre.

The sites chosen are High Street, Sidwell Street and Cowick Street.

In High Street the screens will go outside Waterstones if the council agrees to allow them. In Sidwell Street they will be outside the Monkey Suit bar while in Cowick Street they will go next to Poundland.

In each case BT also wants permission to get rid of redundant telephone boxes.

The hubs come with two screens each, on which advertisements and public information can be displayed. BT says they are a ‘sleek and modern answer to the demands of a digitally connected society’. They can also provide the council with environmental data from sensors embedded in the structure.

Around the country a number of councils have rejected the hubs, including Winchester City Council, Kirklees Council and local authorities in Swindon, Colchester and Banbury.

The rejections came after objections to too much street ‘clutter’ and complaints of obstructed pavements from people with mobility issues.