Fly Posting is a blight on our area. Control of advertisements is one of the functions of the Planning Department of the City of Edinburgh Council. Dodging this control is illegal and antisocial, and we are concerned about the proliferation of these advertisements.
The principal mechanisms for the control of fly-posting are contained in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984. Both pieces of legislation continue to be in force and together they provide that no advertisements can be displayed without the consent (or deemed consent) of the Council and give it powers to control fly-posting within its area. It is our understanding that there are no local regulations in place, so the Council has not taken up those powers.
Here is Schedule 4 of the Regulations which outlines the classes of advertisement that will have deemed consent. It also imposes conditions on the placement of advertisements. For some categories of advertisement this includes a limitation on the number of adverts or the total space that adverts can take up on a site. For example, in relation to adverts that are for a local, religious or cultural event, not being carried on for a commercial purpose, the display of advertisements must not exceed a total of 0.6 sq metre on any site.
The Council doesn't put removal of fly posting very high up its priority list, and with the current cutbacks that means fly posting is not being removed. So, if you see some flyposting, and you are sure it is illegal, tear it down!
On Thursday, 4th October 2018 the SCC supported the Southside Association in a deputation to the Transport and Environment Committee. The deputation highlighted various fly posting concerns - Fly posting associated with the Festival Fringe, fly posting by night clubs (mainly aimed at students in September / October), and the opportunity the City Council has in the legislation to take powers to control fly posting more effectively. It was suggested that some of the money raised by the Festival Fringe advertising should be ring fenced to pay for enforcement measures throughout the year. The deputation was well received by the committee, and we look forward to seeing an improvement in the situation.
See the Southside Association's pictures See the pictures as a PowerPoint presentation.