LIGHTING UP: ETC Media want to light up the city by erecting a giant digital billboard on the side of 183 Victoria St.

Christchurch's streetscape could get a little more electric if the city council agrees to allow a giant digital billboard to be erected on Victoria St.

Digital billboards dominate the landscape in cities like Tokyo and high-profile locations such as Times Square in New York and Piccadilly Circus in London but they are a relatively new addition to New Zealand's big cities.

APN Outdoor launched the country's first large format digital billboard in Auckland's Queen St in July 2013 and now Christchurch-based ETC Media is seeking permission to put one here.

It has lodged a resource consent application with the Christchurch City Council seeking permission to erect a free-standing 8-metre by 4-metre digital screen billboard on the side of 183 Victoria St, facing towards Papanui Rd.

ETC's directors Mike McCaleb and Graham Osborne hope the billboard will be the first in a city-wide network of digital screens operated by their company and believe it will enhance the look and feel of the city.

The illuminated billboard would display a series of eight static images that would rotate every six seconds.

"We suggest that the sign will assist in creating a vibrant, busy city centre, making the area attractive to the existing retail and hospitality businesses in the area," the pair said in their resource consent application.

The billboard could be used to provide up-to-the-minute details of community events, weather conditions, road closures, parking availability, and when necessary, Civil Defence messages.

In their application ETC said they had considered the potential adverse effects on traffic, including the potential for driver distraction, but were confident putting the billboard in Victoria St would cause no traffic safety problems.

"A number of international studies have shown that digital billboards have no statistically significant relationship with the occurrence of accidents," the application said. It also pointed out the Auckland Council had recently granted APN Outdoor permission to expand their network of digital screens from one to four.

Dr David Kelly, from the Victoria Neighbourhood Association, said the group had been made aware of the proposal but had yet to formally discuss its response.

They had previously opposed plans for other billboards along Victoria St because residents had been worried about light spill, but that was less of an issue with the proposed digital billboard as there were no private residences nearby.