The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Amendment) Regulations 1987

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, made by the Secretary of State for the Environment after consultation (as respects regulation 2(1)) with the Secretary of State for Wales, amend the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1984.

Regulation 2(1) amends regulation 8 (contravention of regulations) of the 1984 Regulations. The fine of £200 specified in that regulation is increased to £400 to follow an increase to the standard scale by the Criminal Penalties etc. (Increase) Order 1984 (S.I. 1984/447). The daily fine of £20 for a continuing offence is increased to £40. These amendments apply throughout England and Wales.

The other amendments follow from section 45 of the Housing and Planning Act 1986 which amended section 63 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 (control of advertisements) and gave the Secretary of State powers to make regulations for experimental areas. During the period for which these areas are prescribed, certain advertisements can be displayed without express consent in order to assess their effect on amenity and public safety.

Regulation 2(2) and (4) of, and the Schedule to, these Regulations accordingly insert into the 1984 Regulations a new class (VIII) in regulation 14 (which specifies classes of advertisements which may be displayed without the grant of express consent) and a new Schedule (2A). These provide for the display, during an experimental period of two years from the coming into force of these Regulations, of advertisements which direct visitors to tourist attractions or tourist facilities in the areas of Ashford, Dover and Shepway in Kent.

Regulation 15 of the 1984 Regulations (which empowers the Secretary of State to exclude the application of regulation 14 in any particular area or any particular case) does not apply to a Class VIII advertisement (regulation 2(3)).