Two large billboards that surrounded an electricity station in the middle of Bedminster have been removed - but the electricity board said it had nothing to do with a campaign that’s been running for two years to get rid of them.
The two big advertising billboards faced the junction of North Street and Luckwell Road in Bedminster, around a redbrick substation building on the corner of North Street Green for decades. But in 2021, a campaign was started by local shopkeepers, Bedminster’s Business Improvement District and Adblock Bristol to call for the removal of the boards.
Those behind the call said the billboards spoiled the area, which has now become something of a Mecca for street art fans since the completion of the ‘Six Sisters’ work directly opposite.
Read next: The story behind the Six Sisters street art at North Street Green
The campaign, which began in early 2021, called for the billboards to be removed, saying that they dominated the open space around North Street Green.
“Before lockdown we spoke to dozens of people who live and work near the Green, and found that people overwhelmingly feel that their neighbourhood would be better without the billboards,” said Nicola Round, from Adblock Bristol, back in 2021 when the campaign launched.
“Over the past year people have been appreciating more than ever their local green spaces, as well as the importance of local businesses. These huge big-brand adverts not only spoil the green, they undermine support for the local economy by favouring big corporations over local independent businesses,” she added at the time. The adverts change almost weekly on the two large billboards, and are often ‘subvertised’ by graffiti artists.
Bedminster’s BID team, who launched a £10m ‘vision’ for nearby East Street a month before, said they backed calls to remove the billboards and agreed the street would be nicer without them. “We want to be the high street of the future, not the past, where shopping local and independent has a positive effect on our community,” said a spokesperson for Bedminster BID, which represents 350 businesses in BS3.
"We believe that corporate outdoor advertising can undermine our local economy by preferencing large corporations over local businesses. The billboards themselves give a negative impression of our local area, suggesting it is not highly valued or a pleasant place to stop and spend time. There are already dozens of billboards in the Bedminster area and we wish to see these numbers reduced,” they added.
But the campaign didn’t appear to be getting anywhere, until suddenly late last week, the billboards were taken down. National Grid Electricity Distribution, which maintains the substation, said the lease with advertising billboard agency JCDecaux had come to an end, and wasn’t being renewed.
A spokesman for National Grid Electricity Distribution stressed that the removal of the billboards was a commercially-led decision, and had nothing to do with the campaign.
“This site has previously been leased to an advertising company and that lease has now come to an end, resulting in the removal of the billboards,” she said. “We will now be looking at new options for our operational site at North Street Green,” she added.
What happens next with the area around the substation remains to be seen. The removal of the billboards has exposed what had been hidden between the building and the back of the boards - a large amount of scrub, bushes, litter and trees. A spokesperson for Adblock Bristol said they hoped National Grid Electricity Distribution would work with the Bedminster BID team, or Upfest - which has its HQ and store right opposite - to spruce up the space and the now blank wall.
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