Planning enforcement charter

The display of advertisements is covered by the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984. Many advertisements may be displayed with what is called ‘deemed consent’. This means that they do not need advertisement consent if they meet the conditions set out in the regulations. We have the power to serve an enforcement notice if we think the advert is affecting the amenity of an area or public safety. This gives a time period (normally 28 days) for a person to keep to the notice. However, we can reduce this period to seven days if we believe there is an urgent need for the advertisement to be removed or altered in the interests of public safety, or if the advertisement can be removed without any other work being needed.

We also have powers to remove or destroy placards and posters that do not have planning permission or ‘deemed consent’. If we can identify the person who put up the poster, we have to give them at least two days’ notice that we plan to take the poster down. If we cannot easily identify them, we can remove the advert immediately.