Environment and roads

Advertising signs

Planning Authorities in England and Wales have powers to control advertisements under the Town and County Planning (Control of Advertisements) regulations 1992 (Statutory Instrument 1992 No.: 666) as amended by the Town and County Planning (Control of Advertisements)(Amendment) Regulations 1994 and Town and Planning (Control of Advertisements)(Amendment) Regulations) 1999 (SI 1810).

Regulation 6 of Schedule 3 of the Town and County Planning (Control of Advertisements) regulations, Schedule 3 (Part 1) specifically details advertisements which may be given deemed consent and therefore do not require local planning permission including some that may be illuminated. All other illuminated advertisements require the consent of the local planning authorities.

The main requirements for an illuminated sign relate to luminance and brightness. It is a requirement that the sign be uniformly illuminated across the whole area and that the luminance relates to the background and the surrounds against which the sign is viewed. In an urban area the sign will need a higher level of lighting to be visible than in a less well lit rural area, where it may be viewed against a dark background. This in part depends upon where the observer is standing and hence the surrounding background the sign is viewed against.

The Institution of Lighting Engineers technical report number 5 - ‘Brightness of Illuminated Advertisements’ details specific requirements for illuminated signs in different environments.