Advertising signs on motorway

Bicky

Hi.
Can anybody explain how billboards and other advertising on the motorway works.
I often see trailers parked in fields with advertising on them. Is this a way to circumvent planning laws?
If so, is it possible to actually get planning permission.

Victor

To put up an advertising hoarding needs planning permission. Vehicles don't need planning permission (the storage of vehicles, i.e. many vehicles does need PP).

I boycott such products / services.

mike65

Motorways are designed for speed not gawping at advertising in fields.

Bicky

I have seen examples of small signposts which direct which slip road to take for a roadside restaurant. Are these signs illegal?

Edit : Just curious, I dont actually have a business or reason to advertise.

murphaph

Signage visible from the public highway always needs PP (which is often ignored).

No signage is permitted in view of a motorway.

Signs on trailers are indeed a way of circumventing the law. In my opinion, the law needs updating to eliminate this practice. Any trailer parked in sight of a motorway should be covered.

maxwell smart

I was on the new N8 today at Carlow and there was one of those trailers parked on the unopened section of the motorway, but visable to all people entering and exiting the moterway...and it was distracting!

Spinnaker

+1 with Victor . Vehicles circumvent PP laws. There's a big Tayto one on Dublin-Cork road I think.

Billboards etc fall into 'Outdoor advertising' category. Billboards are owned / leased /operated by agencies like JC Decaux , Clear Channel etc in Ireland.

If you have a good site , yes investigate PP if for your own advertising use and you could also lease space to the agencies...

Tony255

I think it is a tough one to call there are a lot of companys doing this that do not have the money to pay for billboards in this current environment and doing this is a way of keep money flowing so that they dont have to lay staff off on the other hand there are plenty companys doing this that have the money tayto as an example (not sure how they are doing but have a lot more money than a local B&B).

I think the councils could be more understanding about removing banners from the side of the road especially in this current situation. I can see their reason that people would go crazy if they left them out but there seems to be a lot of exceptions there are signs that are left and others that are removed everytime.

I wouldnt agree with boycotting these businesses because they advertise on the side of the road some people simply cannot afford it.

Victor

Tony255 wrote: »

I think it is a tough one to call there are a lot of companys doing this that do not have the money to pay for billboards in this current environment

But this has been going on for decades.

murphaph

If your business is going to fail for want of an illegally erected billboard then something else would have taken it out anyway.

Donagh_mc

Down in Killarney there is a digger parked at the side of the road. The bucket has been modified and the sigage is sticking out OVER the road. How it hasn't been pulled down by the council I have no idea. Very distracting!

Culchie

murphaph wrote: »

If your business is going to fail for want of an illegally erected billboard then something else would have taken it out anyway.

If this point was valid, there would be no advertising industry. Advertising pays, especially in times of recession.

Whatever about Motorway signs, its crazy that some councils consider pavement signs illegal as well?

I mean thats why they are called pavement signs....designed to be pedestrian friendly.

Councils need businesses to survive and prosper to pay the wages (via rates). A sign on the side of the road is far more cost effective that an ad in a newspaper.

I agree there should be some guidelines (maybe a licence, revenue earning system for councils with allocated spots), but the present anti business practices are disgraceful.

murphaph

Advertising in the right place is absolutely fine. Advertising illegaly in an unsightly (and in the case of motorway side trailers, distracting) way is not. That's all I'm saying. However, I recently saw an old lady being clattered by a sandwich board here in Berlin. The wind just picked it up and hurled it at her. Cheapo lightweight sign I'll grant you, but how do councils police the quality and safety of such things? It's impossible in reality. Even the present laws wrt signage on the highway are routinely ignored and signage at junctions in particular can distract/confuse motorists and cause accidents as a result. Also, a lot of such advertising is tacky and cheap and receives no maintenance once erected.

Culchie

murphaph wrote: »

Advertising in the right place is absolutely fine. Advertising illegaly in an unsightly (and in the case of motorway side trailers, distracting) way is not. That's all I'm saying. However, I recently saw an old lady being clattered by a sandwich board here in Berlin. The wind just picked it up and hurled it at her. Cheapo lightweight sign I'll grant you, but how do councils police the quality and safety of such things? It's impossible in reality. Even the present laws wrt signage on the highway are routinely ignored and signage at junctions in particular can distract/confuse motorists and cause accidents as a result. Also, a lot of such advertising is tacky and cheap and receives no maintenance once erected.

There has to be a compromise position that can be found, via licencing or something. Businesses are restricted by planning permission where they can operate from/or build (otherwise they would all love roadside frontage) so many of them are hidden in industrial estates or other 'off the road' locations .... and then they are not allowed to tell people where they are located by putting up signage?

Commercial businesses should be allowed to direct people to their premises.

There's no problem or talk about distractions at crossroads at the moment with the Lisbon treaty, or every single lamppost and telephone pole in the country when the elections are on .... so it shoots that argument in the foot.

Victor

Culchie wrote: »

Whatever about Motorway signs, its crazy that some councils consider pavement signs illegal as well?

Tell that to blind people.

Commercial businesses should be allowed to direct people to their premises.

Sure, this would work much better if they used simple addresses and had proper signage directing people to the business estate, not 50 different signs for individual businesses.

murphaph

Culchie wrote: »

Commercial businesses should be allowed to direct people to their premises. .

Isn't that what the Golden Pages/Internet are for?

Culchie wrote: »

There's no problem or talk about distractions at crossroads at the moment with the Lisbon treaty, or every single lamppost and telephone pole in the country when the elections are on .... so it shoots that argument in the foot.

Two wrongs don't make a right! Here in Germany it is expressly forbidden to erect election posters near junctions and liability has been tested in court when breaches have been made and accidents come to pass. Election posters in Ireland are a joke and should be regulated MUCH more stringently.

People don't want to live in a sea of advertising. It is often simply unsightly.

padocon

Spinnaker wrote: »

+1 with Victor . Vehicles circumvent PP laws. There's a big Tayto one on Dublin-Cork road I think.

Billboards etc fall into 'Outdoor advertising' category. Billboards are owned / leased /operated by agencies like JC Decaux , Clear Channel etc in Ireland.

If you have a good site , yes investigate PP if for your own advertising use and you could also lease space to the agencies...

That Tatoe sign is great! Fantastic advertising & thought!
I know you need planning for road-side signs but not if they are portable ie on a lorry or car trailer. Lots of companies do this so they don't have to get planning permission.

maxwell smart

This is a great example of illegal advertising, its at the new M9 at the South end. Its parked on what will be the new motorway extension to Waterford.
Who got a few quid for this then?:D

Victor

Actually things have changed. Those trailers in fields need PP.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0003.html#parti-sec3

padocon

Victor wrote: »

Actually things have changed. Those trailers in fields need PP.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0003.html#parti-sec3

Laws change I guess. Thanks for that.

fergalfrog

This thread seems to be in relation to motorways but on secondary roads are businesses free to put whatever signage they want on the side of the road. On the way in to Galway there are plenty of signs attached to poles or stuck in the grass verges. Are these legal?

murphaph

fergalfrog wrote: »

On the way in to Galway there are plenty of signs attached to poles or stuck in the grass verges. Are these legal?

Most probably not. PP is always required for such signage and it is unlikely it exists, so the signage would be illegal.

fergalfrog

Does anyone ever get fined tho? I doubt it. It seems to be such a grey area as all "property for sale" signs at the top of a road etc should be illegal in that case too.

Are all the small McDonalds/Supermacs signs illegal too? The ones that say (Supermacs 5km ahead etc)

padocon

fergalfrog wrote: »

Does anyone ever get fined tho? I doubt it. It seems to be such a grey area as all "property for sale" signs at the top of a road etc should be illegal in that case too.

Are all the small McDonalds/Supermacs signs illegal too? The ones that say (Supermacs 5km ahead etc)

I think that you will just be made take it down. I dout they would fine.

Victor

fergalfrog wrote: »

I doubt it. It seems to be such a grey area as all "property for sale" signs at the top of a road etc should be illegal in that case too.

These days, these tend to be attached to private property and not on the public road.

They tend to be fairly temporary and not of an indefinite behaviour.

Some councils do have licencing schemes where directional (not advertising as such) signs can be put up.

smithjhon

We use inflatable billboard attached with a banner advertisement. Most of them famously appear near sports events or exhibition. Inflatable billboards can be installed nearly everywhere standing free and apart from this they are secured with counter weights and tensioning ropes.
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advertising signs outdoor