An "acoustic barrier" that will protect office workers from the drone of 24-hour rolling news coverage in Victoria Square is the latest proposal to get the £365,000 Birmingham city centre Big Screen finally up and running.
Owned by the council and managed by the BBC, the 27ft-wide screen has remained silent since the nearby Waterloo House office block secured an injunction against the local authority last year.
The injunction was made after lawyers claimed irregularities with the way planning permission was granted and said noise from the television would disturb office workers.
Eight months after its proposed move from Chamberlain Square to Victoria Square was approved, the screen is still not switched on. However, the dispute now looks set to be resolved after it was agreed sound-proofing would be brought in.
A council official said: "We have very recently reached, in principle, agreement with Waterloo House to resolve the acoustic design issues relating to the Big Screen and these proposals include the building of an acoustic barrier."
The price of these additional measures is yet to be disclosed.
It is expected by 2012 the council will have paid almost £600,000 for the screen, which it claims is "key to our future development and status as a forward-thinking global city".
A BBC official said: "It is disappointing for Birmingham that the Big Screen is not currently operational.
"But we are confident that any complications surrounding the operation of the screen will be resolved by the city council and that the people in Birmingham will continue to enjoy the range of cultural activities, music, interactive games, community produced films and citizen engagements that the Big Screen offers. "
