Welwyn Hatfield refused all 24 signs Frasers Group wanted at 26 Stonehills, the Poundland unit, on conservation grounds. It stops the signage, not the store.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has refused advertisement consent for every sign Frasers Group wanted to put on 26 Stonehills, the Welwyn Garden City town centre unit the council’s own report records as currently occupied by Poundland.

The decision was issued on 7 August 2026 under application 6/2026/0914/ADV. It was taken by officers under delegated powers rather than by a committee.

Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, USC and GAME, had applied for 24 separate items:

  • 3 internally illuminated Sports Direct logos, mounted above the entrance
  • 3 internally illuminated USC & GAME logos on the facade glazing
  • 10 own-brand marketing vinyls over the shop windows, blue and red with white logos
  • 6 own-brand photographic vinyls over the shop windows
  • 2 grey vinyl stripes

This refuses the signs, not the shop

The application was for advertisement consent only, made under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. That is a separate consent from planning permission.

The officer’s report describes the ground floor of 26 Stonehills as “a Class E retail unit currently occupied by Poundland”. Class E is the broad commercial class that covers shops of both kinds, so a change of retailer within it is not something the council decides. Nothing in this decision prevents a store opening at the address. What it prevents is the signage as submitted.

The two reasons given

The decision notice sets out two reasons for refusal.

The first is heritage. 26 Stonehills sits inside the Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area, in the Primary Retail Core, on the corner of Stonehills and Sir Theodore’s Way next to Anniversary Gardens. The officer’s report records that the building was originally constructed as the Co-operative building and is identified in the Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area Appraisal as a well-preserved example of 1950s Garden City architecture.

The council’s own Welwyn Garden City Guide to Shopfront and Advertising Design, quoted at length in the officer’s report, identifies the building as having a designed entablature on its Stonehills frontage. The report sets out what that guidance asks for: individual lettering fixed directly to the white-painted fascia, kept within the depth of the fascia, with coloured backgrounds limited so the white fascia stays the dominant feature. Officers concluded the proposal did the opposite. The signs would be “overly dominant and visually cluttered”, would interrupt “the continuity of the white fascia”, and the full-height window vinyls would cut the visual permeability of the frontage.

The second reason is light. There are flats directly above the shop. The council’s Public Health and Protection team asked for details of upward light spill onto residential windows, and asked whether the signs would be switched off when the shop was closed. No lighting assessment was submitted. Without figures for illumination levels, light spill or hours of operation, officers said they could not assess the effect on the flats above.

The council has approved illuminated signs here before

The register shows this is not a blanket objection to lit signage at the address. In February 2024 the council granted application 6/2023/2039/ADV for six externally illuminated fascia signs at 26 Stonehills, retrospectively. In August 2017 it granted 6/2017/1413/ADV for one non-illuminated fascia sign and two non-illuminated vinyl signs.

The refused scheme used internal illumination, where the sign itself is a lit box, which the shopfront guidance singles out as detracting from the character of the town centre.

The record also shows Frasers Group went bigger, not smaller, after a first attempt. Application 6/2026/0550/ADV was withdrawn on 29 April 2026. It asked for eleven items in all: one Sports Direct logo, two USC & GAME logos, six non-illuminated window vinyls and two grey stripes. The scheme that replaced it was received on 22 May 2026, three weeks later. It tripled the Sports Direct logos and raised the window vinyl count from six to sixteen.

Table of four advertisement applications at 26 Stonehills, Welwyn Garden City. August 2017, three non-illuminated items, granted. February 2024, six externally illuminated fascia signs, granted retrospectively. April 2026, eleven items with internally lit logos, withdrawn. August 2026, twenty-four items with internally lit logos, refused.

Who said what

The application drew one representation, and it was in support. The Welwyn Garden City Business Improvement District, based at Gate House on Fretherne Road, told the council a modern retail environment would keep the town centre “competitive and attractive to shoppers”, bring footfall to neighbouring businesses, and support “an important anchor retailer”.

The conservation officer at Place Services disagreed, finding the proposal would fail to preserve or enhance the conservation area. Under the National Planning Policy Framework the harm was judged “less than substantial”, the lower of the two categories, but paragraph 212 requires great weight to be given to conserving a heritage asset even then. Officers concluded that harm was not outweighed by any public benefit.

Hertfordshire County Council as highway authority did not object, and recommended conditions on illumination levels.

What it means for you

  • A Sports Direct at 26 Stonehills is still possible. This decision refuses the advertising, and the report describes the unit as a Class E shop, so a change of retailer is not a matter for the council’s planning department.
  • Frasers Group can appeal. The notice states that an appeal against a refusal of express consent for an advertisement must be made within eight weeks of the date the notice is received. The notice is dated 7 August 2026. Appeals go to the Planning Inspectorate.
  • It can also simply reapply. The two reasons are fixable: a smaller, fascia-mounted, externally lit scheme with a lighting assessment attached would address both.
  • If you live above a shop in the town centre, the light spill point is the one worth noting. The council refused partly because it had no hours-of-illumination detail, not because it had evidence of harm.

You can read the file, including the decision notice, the delegated report and the consultee responses, on the council’s planning register under reference 6/2026/0914/ADV. We track local decisions on our Welwyn Hatfield planning page.