Most types of outdoor advertisements are covered by the rules set down by the Government, which control their display. The main types excluded from control include: those displayed on enclosed land or inside buildings and not visible outside those displayed on moving vehicles or boats and advertisements which form an integral part of a building’s fabric. In addition, notices, such as those giving information about local, parliamentary and European elections, road traffic signs,national flags, the flags of European Union, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, English County flags and saints' flags associated with a particular county do no require consent.
All outdoor advertisements must comply with five 'standard conditions'.
They must:
- Be kept clean and tidy
- Be kept in a safe condition
- Have the permission of the owner of the site on which they are displayed (this includes the Highway Authority if the sign is to be placed on the highway land)
- Not obscure, or hinder the interpretation of, official road, rail, waterway or aircraft signs, or otherwise make hazardous the use of these types of transport
- Be removed carefully where so required by the planning authority.
Deemed consent
Many other types of advertising benefit from what is known as "Deemed Consent " and you don’t need to submit a formal application, subject to certain restrictions. These include:
- "Functional Advertisements" by bodies such as the government departments and agencies and the City Council about their services or Metro bus timetables on bus stops.
- Signs on and giving information about business premises, places of worship, educational, recreational or cultural establishments.
- Advertisements on the forecourts of business premises, including shops, restaurants, cafés and petrol filling stations.
- Temporary advertisements, including estate agents’ boards, contractor’s signs on building sites, adverts for local community events but not of a commercial nature) and poster-hoardings which are being used to screen building while the work is being carried out.
- Direction signs to house building sites and advertisements, including flags at the sites themselves.
- Neighbourhood Watch signs.
- Advertisements on highway structures.
- Advertisements on telephone kiosks.
- Advertisements that have been displayed without consent for more than then years, where express consent has expired (unless an application for renewal has been refused) or it would contravene a condition on the original consent.
Restrictions normally relate to the number or locations of adverts or signs permitted, size of the display, its height above ground, the size of any lettering and whether or not it is illuminated. There are additional restrictions on Deemed Consent in any area that has been designated as an "Area of Special Control of Advertisements" and in some cases other areas such as Conservation Areas. Further advice is available from the Development Enquiry Centre. You can also obtain a useful guide: "Outdoor Advertisements and Signs – A Guide for Advertisers" or view it on the Communities and Local Government website - link on this page
Express consent
If your proposed advertisement or sign is not excluded from control and does not meet the "Deemed Consent" criteria, you must apply for "Express Consent". A special application form and guidance notes on how to fill it in can be obtained from the Development Enquiry Centre or can be downloaded from this page. Your application should be accompanied by a location plan of the site and details of the position and appearance of all advertisements and signs for which consent is being sought.
Express consent will usually last for 5 years from the date it is granted, unless it is one of the types specified as being for a shorter temporary period, although this period can be varied.
Applying for express consent
Applications for Advertisement Consent are dealt with in a very similar way to ordinary planning applications. However, in making our decision, we can only consider the impact of your proposal on amenity and public safety, taking into account relevant development plan policies, including the adopted Supplementary Planning Document "Advertising Design Guide" (see link on this page).
Although it is not a statutory requirement to do so, we do publicise applications for advertisement hoardings (but not those for other signs) in the same way as planning applications. We take the comments made on them into account in making our decision, subject to them relating to relevant policy, amenity and public safety considerations. Application Fees are set nationally and are the same throughout the country. It is a legal requirement that fees are paid before an application can be decided. See the link to "Application Forms and Guidance Notes" on this page for the current schedule of fees.
How we deal with applications
BOOKING IN: When we receive your application, we will check to make sure we have all the information we need:
- A completed application form (electronic or hard copy);
- A plan or plans, drawn to an identified scale which identify the location of the site by reference to at least two named roads and show the direction of north and show the location(s) of the advertisement(s).
- Elevations, sections, photomontages or other means of showing the size, appearance, height above ground and projection of proposed advertisement(s)
- Details of any illumination;
- The correct fee.
No application will be decided until all the information and fees required have been provided. A receipt is always provided for the fee and we acknowledge all applications that have been registered. The acknowledgement will identify the case officer who will deal with the application and advise you of the target for deciding it. The council has a target period of 8 weeks for deciding applications for Advertisement Consent. You can monitor the progress of your application on our website www.leeds.gov.uk/publicaccess
Negotiations and amendments: The sites of all applications are visited by the case officer, who will check the information in the application and that, if a site notice is required, it has been displayed. If there are any problems with your application, which it is possible to amend without major alterations to your scheme, we will try to negotiate this with you.
Making the decision: Most decisions are made by a senior officer. Occasionally, particularly controversial applications may be decided by a panel of Councillors. They are presented to the members and considered in the same way as planning applications.
The decision: We aim to send out your Decision Notice on the day that the decision is made. It will set out the reasons for approval or refusal of the application and, if permission has been granted, any conditions with which you have to comply.
Appeals against refusals
If you feel that your application has been unreasonably refused there are two courses of action open to you:
- Amend and re-submit your application within 12 months without paying a further fee.
- Appeal to the Secretary of State within eight weeks of the date you receive the decision. Appeals are dealt with by an Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate, which is a Government Agency. Advice on how to appeal is sent to you with the Decision Notice.
Amendments
You can make changes to the content of the advertisement itself without the need to make another application. However, you cannot normally make other changes to its size, appearance or siting or add or change any means of illumination that did not form part of the original consent, unless further consent has been obtained.
Compliance and enforcement
Where express consent is needed and an advertisement is being displayed, or conditions have not been complied with and this is causing serious harm to amenity or public safety, we will ask for it to be removed within a specified period. If it continues to be displayed, we will consider commencing formal prosecution proceedings.
In considering the action to take, we will consider the advice given in PPG 19 (Outdoor Advertising Control). Where an advertisement has been displayed without express consent causes serious harm to amenity or public safety we will ask for it to be removed. Where it continues to be displayed, prosecution proceedings will be commenced. Where a retrospective application for express consent has been refused and the advertisement continues to be displayed, proceedings will continue even if an appeal has been lodged.