Objecting to an advertisement consent application

Advertisement consent is decided on two grounds and nothing else. Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 requires a council to exercise its powers in the interests of amenity and public safety, taking account of the provisions of the development plan so far as they are material. So an objection to an advertisement consent that argues about the business behind the sign, the message on it, or the number of similar signs the applicant already owns will be set aside before the officer reaches the second paragraph.

Everything useful you can say fits under one of those two headings. The skill is in getting your concerns into them.

The only two grounds available

Amenity covers the effect of the sign on the appearance of the building and the area, including the general characteristics of the locality and the presence of any feature of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest. It is a visual test.

Public safety covers the effect on anyone using a road, railway, waterway, dock, harbour or aerodrome, and expressly includes whether the display would obscure or hinder the ready interpretation of a road traffic sign, railway signal or aid to navigation.

What sits outside both:

• The content, wording or subject matter of the advertisement.
• Competition with another business.
• The identity or conduct of the applicant.
• Loss of property value.
• Whether the premises themselves have planning permission, which is a separate question.

Objections about content are the commonest category and the least effective. An officer has no power to refuse consent because the message is disliked.

What deemed consent already covers

Before objecting, check whether the display needs consent at all. Schedule 3 to the 2007 Regulations grants deemed consent for defined classes of advertisement, each with its own limits on size, height, position and illumination.

The classes cover familiar things: estate agents' boards, signs relating to the business carried on at the premises they are displayed on, temporary notices, flags, hoardings around building sites and signs on highway structures. Where a display stays within the limits of its class, no application is required and there is nothing to object to.

That is worth ten minutes before writing. An objection to something that already benefits from deemed consent produces a polite letter explaining why nothing can be done.

Illumination, luminance and driver distraction

Illumination is where most successful objections live, because it can be measured. The concern is brightness at the point where it matters, not the wattage of the sign.

The Institution of Lighting Professionals guidance on obtrusive light gives the environmental zone framework councils use, and where a sign faces a residential window a Lighting Assessment showing vertical illuminance at that window is the evidence that settles the argument.

For driver distraction, the point to make is positional rather than aesthetic. Is the sign in the driver's cone of vision on the approach to a junction, a crossing or a bend. Does it sit near a traffic signal or a direction sign where it could be confused with one. Does it face oncoming traffic head-on rather than being angled.

Digital displays and the questions to ask

Rotating and video displays raise the same two grounds in sharper form. Ask specifically about the dwell time between images, whether the transition is an instant cut or a fade, whether any moving image or video is proposed, whether the display dims automatically at night, and what happens if the control system fails.

Councils regularly impose conditions on all five. Asking for conditions is more productive than asking for refusal, because a digital sign in a commercial location will often be found acceptable in principle while the operating regime remains open for negotiation.

Scale, position and heritage context

On amenity, describe the relationship between the sign and the building rather than offering an opinion about taste. Does it cover architectural detail, a cornice, a fanlight or a pilaster. Does it project above the eaves. Is it fixed across more than one property in a terrace. Does it sit on a blank flank wall visible from a public park or a conservation area street.

Where the building is listed, a separate listed building consent is needed for a sign that affects its character, and in a conservation area the effect on the character and appearance of the area is a direct amenity consideration. A Heritage Statement should accompany the application in either case, and its absence is a fair point to raise.

The cumulative effect of signage in a frontage is also an amenity matter, provided you describe the visual result rather than complaining about the number of businesses.

Areas of special control and discontinuance

An express consent is normally granted for a fixed term rather than in perpetuity, and standard conditions attach to every grant, covering safe maintenance, the owner's permission, not obscuring traffic signs, and removal when the display is no longer needed. Reminding the officer of those conditions is sometimes more useful than arguing about the sign itself.

Some areas are designated as areas of special control of advertisements, where size limits are tighter and several classes of deemed consent do not apply. Rural areas and conservation areas are the usual candidates. Check whether one covers your street, because it changes the baseline considerably.

For a sign already displayed under deemed consent, the council can serve a discontinuance notice requiring its removal where it causes substantial injury to amenity or a danger to the public. That is the route for an existing sign rather than a new application, and complaints about long-standing signs should be framed that way from the start.

Writing an objection that stays within the grounds

Keep it short and structured. State your address and your interest. Deal with amenity in one section and public safety in another. Give specifics: the window affected, the junction concerned, the architectural feature obscured. Say what condition would resolve the point if one would, because officers look for a middle path.

Submit within the publicity period. Where consent is granted and you disagree, note that third parties have no right of appeal against a grant, so the representation stage is the only opportunity. Where the applicant appeals a refusal, our note on commenting on a planning appeal as a neighbour explains how to take part.

The same discipline applies to other regimes with restricted grounds. Objecting to a telecommunications mast under prior approval works in much the same way, and our guide on objecting to a phone mast under prior approval covers the narrow grounds available there.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

The index of report types by category sets out what a lighting or heritage assessment should contain if you want to check the applicant's submission.