It is a storied corner of Oxford Street that has long featured a billboard fronting bustling Taylor Square in Darlinghurst.
But a court fight has led to the startling revelation that advertising atop the historic building on the corner of Oxford and Flinders streets has not had council approval for more than 20 years.
The company behind a $15 million redevelopment of four adjoining parcels of land in Darlinghurst, including the Edwardian building facing Taylor Square, sought approval from the NSW Land and Environment Court for a digital billboard mounted on the facade of a new fourth floor of the complex. The existing building features a printed billboard on its roof.
The redevelopment plan by Save the Robots, a company owned by Sydney property investor Ping Jin Ng – who bought Paramount House, now a boutique hotel in Surry Hills – boasts a hotel, rooftop bar, art gallery, restaurant and cafe.
In support of its bid for a digital billboard, the company relied on evidence from an urban design expert who expressed the view that “the location is a ‘place of spectacle’ comparable to places such as Shibuya, Tokyo and Times Square, New York”, the court said.
The company said in documents submitted to the City of Sydney Council that the digital billboard was integrated into the building design and would display not only advertisements but public art and messaging for community events, including during Mardi Gras.
But in a decision this month, Land and Environment Court acting commissioner Amelia Thorpe said that “the proposed billboard is not integral to the development and should be removed”.
“There are significant differences between Taylor Square, Shibuya and Times Square, and this is reflected in the planning controls,” she said.
“I find that the proposed billboard would have a detrimental impact on the public domain and a significant view corridor.”
There have been advertising signs on the roof of the existing building across the decades, including for Capstan cigarettes (“Time for a Capstan”) in the 1950s, Esso in the late ’60s and Johnnie Walker in the 1980s.
However, the council has not granted consent for advertising at the site since 1999. That consent expired 24 years ago on February 10, 2001.
Transport for NSW argued in court that approval for the digital billboard should be refused on road safety grounds.
The court accepted evidence that digital billboards can increase driver distraction, and that this was a complex intersection and a black spot.
“I accept that black spots are ruled out for digital advertising,” Thorpe said.
The court granted consent for the redevelopment as a whole, but not for the billboard.
A City of Sydney Council spokesperson said the council had “previously issued an order for the removal of the current billboard”. That order “is the subject of a separate appeal to the Land and Environment Court” that is ongoing.
“The applicant has a 28-day period to appeal the judgment … which refused consent for the new billboard,” the spokesperson said.
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