The Government announced ‘a clampdown’ on distracting roadside adverts this week, by reissuing advertising regulations and encouraging councils to take action.
Planning minister, Yvette Cooper, said: ‘Too many of our motorways are now strewn with illegal trailer adverts, which cause hazards for drivers – and are unsightly too. ‘Just because the ads are parked on trailers doesn’t mean they should be able to dodge proper planning rules.’
She issued a draft circular setting out how local planning authorities should deal with unlawful adverts, including advice on what officers should do if the ownership of a site was unclear.
It stresses that enforcement can be taken against a site, as opposed to a single trailer advert, which can easily be taken away.
But as Surveyor went to press, road safety officers suspected that the problem was not the previous regulations – or a lack of knowledge about them – but simply a lack of council resources for enforcement.
The guidance ‘restates and updates’ existing advice to local planning authorities, according to the document, and ‘should not involve any increase in local government manpower or expenditure’.