1.1 You may have applied to your council for consent (permission) to
display an advertisement, but they refused. As a result, you have now
decided to appeal against their decision. Or, you may have a particular
interest in the outcome of somebody else’s proposed advertisement
display, which the council refused, but is now going to appeal. This
leaflet explains what is involved in the appeal process.

1.2 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 granted consent by the
planning system. They do this by serving a discontinuance notice.

2 The right of appeal

2.1 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); or
you have received a discontinuance notice ordering you to remove an
advertisement display.

2.2 You cannot appeal if the council refuse 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.

3 Who can appeal?

3.1 Only the person, or business, applying for consent to display an
advertisement can appeal against the council’s decision. If a council
issue a discontinuance notice, only those receiving a copy may appeal.
We call the person making the appeal ‘the appellant’.