ROADSIDE ADVERTISING IS THE WRON

ROADSIDE ADVERTISING IS THE WRONG MESSAGE

Another problem for countryside lovers is – quite literally – looming on the horizon.

HOARDINGS ARE A DANGEROUS DISTRACTION

Drivers need to concentrate on motorways so why do we have so many of those distracting hoardings parked in the fields close by? These pictures were taken on the M 25 and it shows just how intrusive they can be.

They are also a blot on the landscape. There are enough road signs already but at least they are clear and necessary. These hoardings are positioned on all major roads as farmers and land-owners look for ways of maximising their income. roadside hoardeing

The law is vague on this issue. Most of the advertisements cover old and dilapidated wheeled trailers or trucks and that’s why they can get round the requirements of the law. They are not permanent advertising features and could be classified as temporary.

Some companies invite passing motorists to ‘buy’ this roadside advertising space and CPRE is unhappy with the way little seems to be happening to stop the spread of these ugly additions to the landscape.

You meet it when driving along the A 120, A 130, A 127 and A 12. This is where you will see the menace of the roadside advertising hoarding. Large trailers draped with advertising slogans have been appearing in fields close to these major routes. They are definitely intrusive and blight the countryside – as well as being a dangerous distraction to drivers who should be concentrating on the road ahead. It seems that a legal loophole is allowing companies to get away with this unsightly advertising gimmick.

Because these advertising trailers have wheels – but are going nowhere – they appear to escape the planning regulations set out in the Town and Country Planning Regulations 1992 and the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) order of 1995. Moving vehicles – with wheels – are exempt from the strict controls on advertising. But does this mean that trailers which are planted in fields and farmland close to main routes are escaping prosecution. Apparently so because the law is confusing and no one has yet challenged the legality of the situation. CPRE National office are aware of this growing trend and are trying to get Government to review the planning laws which covers wheeled trailers that are parked permanently on farmland and use for advertising purposes. But, in the end, it’s the local planning authority who has to make a final decision.

Now BBC Essex have taken up the issue and highlighted the increasing number of trailers appearing on roads throughout the county. CPREssex Press Officer David Williams was interviewed recently on the morning ‘Breakfast’ show.

It’s now up to us to make more people aware of what is happening. We have to take up the matter with the local Planning Authorities. Their resources may be thin on the ground but with clear-cut guidelines and the law on their side, it should be possible to use prosecutions as the way to stamp out this menace. So write to your local paper; contact the Planning Departments and local councillors; make sure the problem of roadside advertising is stamped out before it spreads to other parts of the county. CPRE have been campaigning on this issue since 2005. It may take time for the law to get its act together but, at the moment, companies who promote this form of advertising and land-owners see it as a way to make extra money. It’s just another example of the way Essex is being pressurised by changes and developments that are eroding the countryside. We can’t ignore the issue of trailer advertising and now is the time to raise concerns about the way Essex is being targeted by those who don’t understand the benefits of an uncluttered landscape