Wandsworth Roundabout ‘pretzel’ survives as councillors reject timber replacement

The circular advertising sign in the middle of Wandsworth Roundabout, known locally as the “pretzel”, will stay. On Thursday 17 September councillors turned down a plan to swap it for a timber structure inspired by trees.

Advertising firm Wildstone Estates had applied to replace the sign, which has stood over the roundabout since 1995, as a way to earn more advertising revenue from the site. Council planning officers had recommended the scheme, but Wandsworth’s Planning Committee refused it against their advice.

Why Wandsworth’s planning committee refused the pretzel replacement

Councillors were divided. Some felt the new structure would be too intrusive. Others disliked how it looked but could find no reason to refuse it. In the end the application was rejected.

Labour councillor Matthew Tiller urged colleagues to listen to local support for the existing sign, and called the proposed design “messy and incongruous”. His Labour colleague Tony Belton argued that large adverts should be kept out of drivers’ view, so they can focus on the road and avoid hitting pedestrians.

The scheme drew 153 objections on the council’s website. Residents called the new design an eyesore and a waste of money. One said the current sign was clean and simple and had been improved by its recent coat of dark paint.

TfL raised road safety concerns about the new adverts

Transport for London also objected in writing, warning that the replacement boards could distract drivers. TfL pointed to a record of serious and slight collisions, especially on the approach to the roundabout, where drivers would have the clearest view of the adverts.

That concern was answered by David Tidley, Head of Transport Strategy. The applicant had looked into the collision history, he said, and concluded that none of the incidents were down to the advertising structure. Conditions to deal with TfL’s concerns had also been agreed.

Wildstone Estates has held the structure since last year on a long lease from TfL, and worked on the design with architects Tate + Co. The new structure would have been 25 metres tall. Like the current sign it would have carried four advertising boards, each a little larger than before. The underpass beneath the roundabout appears at the start of Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.