Agenda item

Report of Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage introduced the report on Regulation 7 Direction Controlling Letting Boards.

The current Regulation 7 Direction approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG) will expire on 16 October 2017.  The key benefits of the control of letting boards for citizens are the visual and environmental enhancement, improvements to community safety in mainly residential neighbourhoods, together with the further protection of the special character of the conservation areas contained within it.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  authorise the Chief Planner to make an application to the Secretary of State for a further direction under Regulation 7 Town and Country (Control of Advertisement) Regulations 2007, which withdraws deemed consent’ rights for Class 3A of Schedule 3 for the display of residential letting boards in the Letting Board Control Area (Appendix One of the report);

(2)  authorise that the area to form the subject of the ‘renewal’ Direction be that outlined on the plan included as Appendix One of the report;

(3)  note that the successful delivery of the Direction’s current enforcement regime and implementation procedures, involving the coordination of enforcement resources would continue upon ‘renewal’ of the Direction by the Secretary of State;

(4)  delegate the authorisation to the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, in consultation with the Chief Planner to make further applications to the Secretary of State for all future directions under Regulation 7 Town and Country (Control of Advertisement) Regulations 2007 for letting boards.

Reasons for decisions

The large number of letting boards previously on display in the Area

(Appendix1 of the report) visually detracted from the character and appearance of these predominantly residential neighbourhoods and the special character of the conservation areas contained within it. They were seen by the Police to contribute towards community safety by earmarking the nature and transient character of the population to those who would target the area for criminal purposes and have a negative impact on maintaining sustainable balanced community in the area.

The mandatory control of letting boards, over the last 5 years, together with

the implementation of an effective enforcement strategy, including the

production of the Lettings Board Design Guidance resulted in the immediate

transformation in the environmental quality of these areas. The successful

prosecution of repeat offenders in the final year of the Direction has also

helped maintain control over its enforcement. A further Direction (“the

renewal”) enables the Local Authority to continue with its enforcement

policy which serves as a significant deterrent to others when deployed.

A further Regulation 7 Direction is considered to be crucial to both regulating

and maintaining the current environmental quality of these areas, and generates a high turnover of tenants and therefore demand for letting boards.

The Area is considered to correspond with the main concentration of private

rented property in the city which predominantly caters for the student markets.

The intention is to apply for a permanent Regulation 7 Direction for the Area.

In the event that the Secretary of State permits only a further 5 year period, it

is considered that the authorisation to apply for a further direction be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, in

consultation with the Chief Planner.

Other options considered

Do nothing: to not apply for a further Direction. If no action was taken, the existing direction will lapse in October this year. Evidence from enforcement

activity during the current direction period suggests that there is still a high level of demand to display letting boards, and that without the additional control provided by the Direction, the number of letting boards on display is likely to rise to equal the numbers that were displayed prior to the Direction being put in place. Doing nothing is therefore not a realistic option, given the scale of the public concerns raised and the inability of the current Advertisement Regulation regime and previous voluntary codes to regulate the level of letting boards at an environmentally acceptable level.