The Government has announced a new database as part of measures to help councils crack down on illegal roadside advertising.
The database enables local planning authorities to input and extract details of prosecutions and formal cautions against companies which have unlawfully displayed adverts alongside Britain’s motorways and trunk roads. It also includes information about those guilty of fly-posting.
Current arrangements for controlling outdoor advertisements have also been updated to make the legislation more responsive to rapidly-changing forms of advertising.
Many councils have already brought successful prosecutions, and ministers are calling for this to be replicated across the country. In Stockport and the surrounding area, 243 illegal advertisements have been removed within the last 12 months.
Launching the measures, planning minister, Yvette Cooper, said: ‘Many of these illegal ads are not just a blight on the countryside, they are also downright dangerous. Local councils have got the power to act, and I want to see more taking action so we don’t simply see these trailer ads moving from one field to another across local council boundaries.’
Welcoming the announcement, Paul Milner, planning campaigner for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said: ‘For too long, planning enforcement has been neglected. Over 900 billboards came to be plastered over England’s landscape in recent years, with the aim of getting the attention of motorists travelling at high speed. ‘We hope this will be a salutary reminder to the Government and all local councils that planning rules need to be enforced.’
A circular has been published to explain Control of advertisements regulations 2007, which can also be found at www.communities.gov.uk