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Making an advertising appeal

You may have applied to your council for consent (permission) to display an advertisement, and they either refused or failed to reach a decision. As a result, you have now decided to appeal. Or, you may have a particular interest in the outcome of someone else's proposed advertisement display, which has reached the appeal stage. Almost all outdoor advertisements are under planning control. These controls are the responsibility of local planning authorities who are usually district or borough councils. The council decides whether a particular advertisement should be allowed. Councils may also take action to remove advertisements which are lawfully displayed. They do this by serving a discontinuance notice which you can also appeal.

You can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate for appeals in England and Wales, or to the Planning Appeals Commission if you are in Northern Ireland.

When you can appeal

You can appeal against the council's decision when:

  • You have applied to the council for consent to display an advertisement, which they have refused
  • The council has granted consent for an advertisement but has given you conditions which you think are not acceptable
  • The council have failed to give a decision within the time laid down, (this is usually eight weeks, but it can be extended if you agreed to this in writing)
  • You have received a discontinuance notice ordering you to remove an advertisement display

You cannot appeal if the council refuses to deal with your application because a similar proposal was dismissed on appeal less than two years before and the council believe there have been no significant changes since.

In England and Wales, you can submit your appeal online using the Appeals Casework Portal. For Northern Ireland, see the Planning Appeals Commission.

What is the law guide

The Desktop Lawyer law guide aims to present the law to you in a comprehensive yet jargon-free and easy-to-read format. Our law guide is constantly kept up to date with changes in business and family law by our team of in house solicitors, and includes information across all the legal jurisdictions in the UK.

Our law guide is free to use. Where we provide documents related to this area of law, or where they may help you with any legal issue in this area, they will be listed to the right of this message.

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