The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984

Made: 29th March 1984

Laid before Parliament: 9th April 1984

Coming into Operation: 2nd May 1984

In the exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 61, 101 and 165 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1972[^f00001], and of all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I hereby make the following regulations:—

PART I — CITATION, COMMENCEMENT, INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Citation and commencement

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These regulations may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984 and shall come into operation on 2nd May 1984.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires—

• “the Act” means the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972;

• “advertisement” means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, board, notice, awning, blind, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of, and employed wholly or partly for the purposes of, advertisement, announcement or direction (excluding any such thing employed wholly as a memorial or as a railway signal), and includes any hoarding or similar structure or any balloon used or designed or adapted for use and anything else used, or designed or adapted principally for use, for the display of advertisements, and references to the display of advertisements shall be construed accordingly.

• “area of special control” means an area defined by an order made under regulation 8 as an area of special control in respect of the display of advertisements;

• “balloon” means a tethered balloon or similar object;

• “building” includes any structure or erection and any part of a building as so defined;

• “business premises” means any building or part of a building (but not the forecourt or other land forming part of the curtilage of the building) normally used for the carrying on of any professional, commercial or industrial undertaking, or for the provision by any organisation of services for payment, and includes public restaurants, licenced premises and places of public entertainment, but in the case of any building used principally for residential purposes includes only that part of the building normally used for the carrying on of such undertaking or the provision of any such services;

• “conservation area” means an area designated under section 262 of the Act[^f00002];

• “discontinuance notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 14;

• “electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

• “enclosed land” means land which is wholly or for the most part enclosed with any hedge, fence, wall or similar screen or structure, and shall be deemed to include any railway station together with its yards and forecourt whether enclosed or not, but shall not include any public park, public garden or other land held for the use or enjoyment of the public, or any railway line;

• “enforcement notice” means a notice served in accordance with regulation 24;

• “forecourt” for the purposes of Class IV of Schedule 4 includes any fence, wall or a similar screen or structure enclosing a forecourt and not forming part of the fabric of a building constituting business premises;

• “ground level” means, in relation to the display of advertisements on any building, the ground floor level of that building;

• “illuminated advertisement” means an advertisement which is designed or adapted to be illuminated by artificial lighting, directly or by reflection, and which is so illuminated for the purposes of advertisement, announcement or direction at any time after the date on which these regulations come into operation;

• “recreational” in relation to an institution shall not apply to any institution for the carrying on of sport, games or physical training primarily as a commercial undertaking;

• “site” in relation to an advertisement, means any land, or any building, other than an advertisement as herein defined, on which an advertisement is displayed;

• “specified classes” means the classes of advertisement specified in Schedule 4;

• “standard conditions” means the standard conditions set out in Schedule 1;

• “statutory undertakers” and “statutory undertaking” have the same meaning as in section 275 of the Act and shall include a public gas transporter within the meaning of Part I of the Gas Act 1986 and holder of a licence within the meaning of Part I of the Electricity Act 1989, each of whose undertaking shall be a statutory undertaking but in relation to the display of advertisements of Class I specified in Schedule 4 shall be deemed to include any undertaking carried out by the National Coal Board for the winning or supply of coal or any undertaking carried on by the British Airports Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Post Office or British Telecommunications for the purposes of their respective functions;

and other expressions have the same meaning for the purpose of these regulations as they have for the purpose of the Act or, as the case may be, for the purpose of Part IX (Planning Functions) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973[^f00003].

• (2) Reference in these regulations to the person displaying an advertisement shall be construed as reference to the person who himself, or by his servant or agent, undertakes or maintains the display of such advertisement, and, unless the context otherwise requires, shall be deemed to include—

• (a) the owner, lessee and occupier of the land on which the advertisement is displayed; and

• (b) any person to whose goods, trade, business or other concerns publicity is given by the advertisement.

• (3) Subject to the provisions of regulation 3(3) and (4), reference in these regulations to the land, the building, the site or premises on which the advertisement is displayed shall be construed in the case of an advertisement which is displayed on, or which consists of, a balloon, as reference to the land, the building, the site or other premises (as the case may be) to which the balloon is attached.

• (4) A regulation or Schedule referred to only by number in these regulations means the regulation or Schedule so numbered in these regulations.

Application

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• (1) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4) of this regulation, these regulations shall apply to the display on sites in Scotland of all advertisements, except any advertisement—

• (a) displayed within a building, other than an advertisement of a description specified in paragraph (2);

• (b) displayed on or in a vehicle normally employed as a moving vehicle on any road or railway or displayed on or in a vessel normally employed as a moving vessel on any inland waterway:

Provided that this exception shall not apply to advertisements displayed on any such vehicle or vessel during any period when it is being used primarily for the display of advertisements;

• (c) incorporated in, and forming part of the fabric of, a building, other than a building used principally for the display of advertisements or a hoarding or similar structure:

Provided that no advertisement shall be deemed to form part of the fabric of a building by reason only of being affixed to, or painted on, the building;

• (d) displayed on enclosed land, and not readily visible from the land outside that enclosure or from any part of such enclosure over which there is a public right of way or to which there is a public right of access;

• (e) displayed on, or which consists of, a balloon flown at a height of more than 60 metres above ground level;

• (f) displayed on an article for sale or on the package or other container in which an article is sold, or displayed on the pump, dispenser or other container from which an article, gas or liquid is sold, being an advertisement wholly with reference to the article, gas or liquid for sale, which is not an illuminated advertisement and does not exceed 0.1 square metre in area.

• (2) The display of an advertisement within a building so as to be visible from outside that building shall be subject to these regulations if the advertisement is—

• (a) an illuminated advertisement; or

• (b) an advertisement displayed within any building used principally for the display of advertisements; or

• (c) an advertisement any part of which is within a distance of one metre from any external door, window, or other opening through which the advertisement is visible from outside the building.

• (3) These regulations shall not apply to the display of an advertisement on, or which consists of, a balloon on a site (as defined in paragraph (4) of this regulation) which is not within an area of special control, a conservation area, or such other area as the Secretary of State may from time to time by direction designate for the purpose of conserving the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside, so long as the following conditions are complied with:—

• (a) not more than one such advertisement shall be displayed at any one time on the site; and

• (b) the site shall not be used for the display of such advertisements on more than 10 days in total in any one calendar year (taking into account all occasions on which such an advertisement is displayed on any part of the site by any person for any purpose).

• (4) For the purposes of paragraph (3) of this regulation, “site” means—

• (a) in a case where the advertisement is being displayed by a person (other than the occupier of the land) who is using or proposing to use the land, building or other premises to which the balloon is attached for a particular activity (other than the display of advertisements) for a temporary period only, the whole of the land, building or other premises used or to be used by that person for the carrying on of that activity; or

• (b) in any other case, the land, building or other premises to which the balloon is attached and all land, buildings or other premises normally occupied together therewith.

PART II — GENERAL PROVISIONS

Control of advertisements to be exercised in the interests of amenity and public safety

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• (1) The powers conferred by these regulations with respect to the grant or refusal of consent for the display of advertisements, the revocation or modification of such consent, and the discontinuance of the display of advertisements with consent deemed to be granted, shall be exercisable only in the interests of amenity and public safety.

• (2) When exercising such powers a planning authority—

• (a) shall, in the interests of amenity, determine the suitability of the use of a site for the display of advertisements in the light of the general characteristics of the locality, including the presence of any feature of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest; and when assessing the general characteristics of the locality the authority may disregard any advertisements being displayed therein;

• (b) shall, in the interests of public safety, have regard to the safety of persons who may use any road, railway, waterway (including any coastal waters), dock, harbour, or airfield affected or likely to be affected by any display of advertisements; and shall in particular consider whether any such display is likely to obscure, or hinder the ready interpretation of, any road traffic sign, railway signal, or aid to navigation by water or air;

but without prejudice to their power to have regard to any other material factor.

• (3) In determining an application for consent for the display of advertisements, or considering whether to make an order revoking or modifying a consent, the planning authority may have regard to any material change in circumstances likely to occur within the period for which that consent is required or granted.

• (4) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, express consent for the display of advertisements shall take effect as consent to the use of a site for the purpose of displaying advertisements in the manner authorised by the consent whether by any erection of structures on the site or otherwise as the case may be.

• (5) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, express consent for the display of advertisements shall not contain any limitation or restriction relating to any particular subject matter or class of subject matter or to the content or design of any subject matter to be displayed, but shall take effect as consent to the use of the site for the purpose of displaying advertisements in the manner authorised by the consent whether by the erection of structures on the site or otherwise, as the case may be:

Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall affect the duty of the planning authority, when dealing with an application for consent for the display of a particular advertisement, to have regard to the effect on amenity and public safety of the display of that advertisement.

Consent required for the display of advertisements

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• (1) No advertisement may be displayed without consent granted either by the planning authority or by the Secretary of State on an application in that behalf (referred to in these regulations as “express consent”), or deemed to be granted in accordance with Part IV of these regulations.

• (2) Insofar as the nature of the consent permits, consent for the display of advertisements shall enure for the benefit of the site to which the consent relates and of all persons for the time being interested in that site; without prejudice however to the provisions of these regulations as respects the revocation or modification of consent.

The standard conditions

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Without prejudice to the power of the planning authority to impose additional conditions upon the grant of consent under these regulations, the standard conditions set out in Schedule 1 shall apply without further notice to the display of all advertisements; and in the case of advertisements being displayed with consent deemed to be granted by these regulations the conditions set out in Part II of that Schedule shall also apply:

Liability to fine for contravention of the regulations

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• (1) A person who displays an advertisement in contravention of these regulations shall be liable on summary conviction of an offence under section 101(2) of the Act[^f00004] to a fine not exceeding £200 and, in the case of a continuing offence, £20 for each day during which the offence continues after conviction.

• (2) Failure to observe any condition relating to the maintenance of an advertisement or of the site used for the display of an advertisement, or to the satisfactory removal of an advertisement, shall not be a contravention of these regulations for the purpose of section 101 of the Act insofar as concerns any person who is only deemed by virtue of section 101(3) of the Act to display the advertisement, unless such person has failed to comply with an enforcement notice served on him by the planning authority requiring him to take the steps required by the enforcement notice within such period as may be specified in the notice.

PART III — AREAS OF SPECIAL CONTROL

Definition of areas of special control

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• (1) Every planning authority shall from time to time consider whether any part, or additional part, of their district should be defined as an area of special control and whether any order made by them under this regulation should be modified or revoked.

• (2) In the selection of areas under this regulation, a planning authority shall consult—

• (a) with any other planning authority whose district or any part thereof appears to them likely to be affected by the proposed order, and

• (b) in the case of a general planning authority, with any district council whose district or part thereof appears to them likely to be affected by the proposed order.

• (3) An area of special control shall be defined by an order made by the planning authority and approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 2 and any such order may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order so made and approved.

• (4) A planning authority shall exercise their functions under this regulation only in the interests of amenity and for this purpose shall have regard to the general characteristics of their area, including the presence therein of any feature of historic, architectural or cultural interest.

Display of advertisements in areas of special control and conservation areas

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• (1) No display of advertisements may be undertaken in an area of special control except—

• (a) advertisements of the classes and descriptions specified in Schedule 4;

• (b) advertisements of the descriptions specified in regulations 12 and 27;

• (c) advertisements of the following descriptions displayed with express consent:—

• (i) hoardings or similar structures to be used only for the display of notices relating to local events, activities or entertainments;

• (ii) any advertisement for the purpose of announcement or direction in relation to buildings or other land in the locality being an advertisement which, in the opinion of the planning authority or of the Secretary of State on appeal, is reasonably required having regard to the nature and situation of such buildings or other land;

• (iii) any advertisement which, in the opinion of the planning authority or of the Secretary of State on appeal, is required to be displayed in the interests of public safety;