Big wheel to stay for another four years

A BIG wheel which allows everyone and their dogs extensive views across Plymouth has been given permission to operate on The Hoe for the next four years.

- By ALISON STEPHENSON

The observation wheel will run from March until September, despite concerns from heritage experts and a local neighbourhood forum that it will impact on the area's many listed memorials and monuments.

Members of Plymouth City Council's planning committee were told that the grassed area of the Hoe Park, to the east of Armada Way and north of the Promenade, was the most suitable site for the attraction, which measures 34 metres in height and 33 metres wide.

A big wheel is currently operating under permitted development rights at the location until September 1 and various planning applications have been granted over the years for temporary consent, including one for a 53 metre high wheel in 2011.

However, an application for the temporary siting of the wheel on a yearly basis was refused last year because the visual impact and the impact on the historic environment had not been thoroughly assessed.