Signs and Adverts by commonplace.is

4.13 Signs and Adverts

Related SPD sections • 4 7 Street Trading / Commercial Activity

• 4 12 Power and Lighting

Key City Plan policies 43. Public Realm

Context

Signs and advertisements can have signiﬁcant impacts on the quality, appearance, and safety of the public realm.

They are important to the success of many businesses and, where carefully designed, can contribute to attractiveness and variety in townscapes of commercial parts of the city.

The proliferation of advertising can, however, have a harmful impact the character of areas and the appearance of individual buildings. It is therefore important to ensure that the size, design, and siting of adverts has been carefully considered, is related to the use of the building and does not harm visual or residential amenity, heritage assets or impact harmfully on highway safety.

Signs and advertisements should make a positive contribution to amenity or public safety by being sensitively designed in terms of their size, location, method and degree of illumination, their impact on the building on which they are displayed, local context, street-scene, and wider townscape.

The display of advertisements and signs is controlled by the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992. These Regulations control all types of advertisements, whether illuminated or not. The law relating to advertisements is highly complicated; signs and advertisements can variously require no consent at all, have ‘deemed’ (or automatic) advertisement consent, and some require ‘express’ consent from the City Council Many functional signs, installed by the City Council will not require express consent, while many commercial advertisements will require express consent. The Advertisement Regulations 81 set out in detail which advertisements require permission. A user -friendly guide 82 covers the most common forms of advertisement in plainer English than the regulations.

Advertisements, signs, and innovative wayﬁnding should avoid creating barriers to accessibility, through readability, language barriers, or lack of access for users of smart phones or internet.

All new pedestrian wayfinding signs should be consistent in design and quality and be consistent with the Legible London style Redundant wayfinding, advertisements, signs and poles should be removed throughout the city, except in rare instances where the advertisements are of intrinsic heritage value

Advertisements can cause obstruction to pedestrians and other highway users (e.g. A-boards, banner barriers). They can add to street clutter and pose a trip hazard and obstruction to all pavement users. A-boards on the highway and in the public realm present significant hazards for people with visual or cognitive impairments, and to all in crowded streets. They pose obstructions to people who use mobility aids, or who have children in prams or pushchairs, or who have luggage. In much of Westminster pavements are narrow and it is often not possible to widen pavements. This means that any further narrowing of pavements caused by businesses’ or contractors’ use of free standing advertisements can severely inhibit use

81 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/783/contents

82 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a755a88e5274a3cb2869c26/326679.pdf

of the public realm, making it difficult to navigate narrowed areas of pavement, particularly when busy. The protected groups of disabled people and parents of young children are particularly affected by this.

Virtual wayﬁnding, for example online signposting, can be an alternative and addition to traditional physical wayﬁnding signs in the public realm

Where signs and advertisements are illuminated, or otherwise powered, they should be as energy eﬃcient as possible

Signs and Adverts Guidance

A. All new signs and advertisements will protect visual amenity and public safety. In Westminster this means that signs and advertisements will:

1. Have no harmful impact on highway safety, operation or obstruct movement;

2. Be sensitively located within the street-scene and respect the predominant character and appearance of the area;

B. Advertisements, including digital or projected images, should not pose a risk to the safety of drivers or pedestrians through distraction. Very striking or engaging signs should not encourage the public to congregate in congested areas and should be positioned to avoid bright patches of reﬂected light and glare

C. Where they are ﬁxed to a building, relate in terms of size, detailed design and materials to its use, character, scale, proportions and architectural features of the building;

1. Protect heritage assets and/or designated local, metropolitan or neighbourhood plan views i 83;

2. Not obscure existing architectural detail

Amenity impacts

A. Advertisements should relate sensitively to the character and appearance of area in which they are located and the appearance of the building to which they are ﬁxed.

B. The following forms of advertising cause harm to visual amenity and will generally be resisted:

1. LED and video screens, moving digital displays and message boards and intermittent, ﬂashing, or lightprojecting signs.

2. Signiﬁcant advertising in residential areas.

3. Internally illuminated box fascias or projecting signs.

4. Illuminated advertisements adjacent to or visible from the Royal Parks or London Squares.

5. High level signs and banners.

6. Signs and advertisements on street furniture [such as bus stops or telephone kiosks] especially in conservation areas, London squares, or adjacent to Royal Parks, listed buildings, or other sensitive locations.

7. Portable advertisements, including A-boards on the public highway; and

8. Signiﬁcant advertising on scaﬀold shrouds

C. Shop signs should be at fascia level and be externally illuminated. Internally illuminated box fascias and projecting signs are not normally appropriate in conservation areas, unless they can be related successfully to the design and detailing of the building and do not detract from the character of a group of buildings or a street. Shop blinds should generally be traditional, retractable canvas awnings and should not bridge between shop windows.

D. Advertisements should not impinge on significant views, including views from parks and open spaces, Metropolitan Views as identified in the draft Metropolitan Views SPD, and Mayor of London’s ‘London View Management Framework’ (LVMF) or locally significant views as identified in our conservation area audits, neighbourhood plans or other place shaping strategies.

E. Advertisements should usually be confined to the ground floor of buildings. Projecting signs should be fixed to the pilasters or columns between buildings, or the fascia above the ground floor window, in one exists. Advertisements should not normally be attached to railings.

F. Advertisements fixed above the ground floor will not normally be allowed, unless they cannot reasonably be fixed at a lower level, or if it can be demonstrated that they make a positive contribution to the character of an area or a building.

83 Relevant views are identiﬁed in the Mayor of London’s View Management Framework, Westminster’s Metropolitan Views SPD, Conservation Area Audits and other area based guidance. Neighbourhood Plans can also include identify locally important views.

G. The number of advertisements should be kept to the minimum necessary to convey essential information, even in commercial areas. Only one advertisement, or one projecting and one fascia sign on each principal frontage will normally be permitted. The appearance of a large number of advertisements on a building or in a street is often counter-productive because it becomes diﬃcult to pick out one individual advertisement and can be very disruptive to the appearance and architectural character of an area. When preparing designs for new advertisements, the opportunity should be taken to reduce the number of signs on the building or structure and remove those which are redundant.

H. Where the City Council considers that harm is being caused by advertisements that do not normally require express consent, as in the case of Estate Agents’ boards, they may apply to the Secretary of State for additional controls in the interest of amenity

Theatres

A. On theatres the council will allow some high-level signage and three-dimensional signage in agreed locations, where this does not harm important views and is appropriately ﬁxed so as not to harm heritage assets.

B. Internally illuminated signs on theatres may be acceptable where they:

1. Are of a size sympathetic to the scale and architecture of the theatre;

2. Are sensitively located;

3 Are well detailed in terms of materials and design;

4. Have no adverse impact to highway safety.

5. Consideration will be given to the intensity of light levels in internally illuminated signs.

6 The impact of signs on the appearance of the building during both daylight and night time hours will be considered. Some theatres by virtue of their historic importance may always be inappropriate for internally illuminated signs. Others may lend themselves more readily to this approach.

7 All proposals which involve sound should be refused in line with the Environmental Protection Act 1990

Shrouds

A. Temporary hoardings or shrouds around building sites or empty sites should not normally be used for displaying poster advertisements. However, in commercial streets, posters on building site hoardings at ground ﬂoor level may be acceptable.

B. Large displays above ground ﬂoor level are not normally appropriate. In some circumstances well designed shrouds, which respond sensitively and appropriately to their context, with minimal advertising content, may be acceptable.

C. Where consent is granted for advertising on shrouds and hoardings, this will only be permitted for the duration of those works. A schedule and timetable of works may be required as supporting information for an application to display advertisements on shrouds.

D. Such shrouds should aim to mitigate the harm caused to the appearance of the area by use of a full scale representation of the building or a work of public art. Large-scale third party advertising is not acceptable on such shrouds.

Banners

and other advertisements suspended above the street

Temporary banners and other suspended advertisements are those which, suspended from purpose designed street lighting columns or buildings, are erected to publicise a speciﬁc cultural event in the immediate locality.

A. Suspended advertisements should be at least 5.7 metres above ground level and at least than 2.5 metres away from any light/wall light, to allow for maintenance, reduce light blocking from these ﬁttings and safe earthing distances for persons maintaining and potential for electrocution. Where temporary display is considered acceptable, no two events should be the subject of such a display concurrently.

B. In the case of Christmas Lights and other illuminated displays the proposal will be expected to minimise energy use through the use of low energy technology and controlled lighting up times. The duration of the display of Christmas and other seasonal displays will be controlled by condition. The installation and illumination of Christmas displays will not ordinarily be acceptable before the start of October and November, respectively.

C. In circumstances where temporary banners are acceptable, they should be suspended from unlisted buildings or multi-functional street furniture. They should not harm the setting of heritage assets, having regards to the provisions of the heritage assets policies. Listed street furniture should not be used to display advertising.

Flags

A. Flags and banners can have an adverse impact on the appearance of buildings and the streetscape, by obscuring the façade of buildings and contributing to visual clutter. In streets throughout the city such displays will generally be unacceptable in principle

B. In certain commercial streets such as Regent Street, Old and New Bond Streets, Albemarle Street and Savile Row there is a long standing tradition of flag display. Flags on commercial premises contribute to the character of these streets. Nonetheless flags on these streets, and on the building types listed in the policy, remain subject to design considerations in terms of the size, siting and angle of flagpole. If these elements cannot be satisfactorily designed, applications for flag advertisements may be unacceptable

C. Design Standards for Flags, where they are acceptable, are:

• Only one ﬂag per building

• Flags should be free ﬂying, not tethered

• The maximum acceptable ﬂagpole length is generally 3 metres

• Maximum acceptable ﬂag size is generally 2 metres x 1 metres

• Poles should be angled at 45° on Old and New Bond Streets, and 30° on Regent Street

• A minimum of 5.3 metres vertical clearance should be provided from the base of the ﬂag and banners where the ﬂag hangs over the carriageway or within 1 metre of the carriageway.

• Where the ﬂag is over footway and is setback 1 metre from any kerb edge, a minimum vertical clearance of 2.6 metres is required from the base of the ﬂag to the highway surface.

Digital advertisements and media screens

A. Through their illumination and moving content, digital screens can have an impact on the visual amenity of the public realm disproportionate to their size. They are often proposed at high level, in prominent locations. They will not normally be acceptable. Any that are permitted must adhere to Institute of Lighting Professionals (ILP) Public Lighting Guide 05 Brightness of Illuminated Advertisements

B. The existence of a concentration of such advertisements will not justify its expansion into previously unaﬀected areas. The cumulative impact of additional screens will be taken into consideration in determining applications.

Advertisement totems

A. New, free-standing structures to display advertisements such as advertising totems or novel hybrid telecommunications/advertising installations are unlikely to be permitted in sensitive locations such as conservation areas in the vast majority of cases. Outside conservation areas, consent to display advertisements on existing or new street furniture will rarely be granted

Estate Agents’ and Similar Boards

A. Temporary signs, announcing that a property is for sale or letting, within certain speciﬁed limits as set out in the Advertisements Regulations, can generally be erected without consent on private property. However, there is currently a Regulation 7 direction in place obtained from the Secretary of State that grants the City Council the power to request applications for express consent for the display of any such boards in certain areas. A separate leaﬂet entitled ‘Boardwatch’ has been published by the City Council, showing the restricted areas (known as Regulation 7 Direction Areas). The regulation is due for renewal and this is currently under review.

B. Following the approval of special controls, the City Council agreed that all applications for estate agents’ boards for residential property in the restricted areas will normally be refused and special criteria will apply to commercial buildings. Outside the restricted areas, the maximum size permitted without consent is deﬁned by the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992. Separate listed building consent will be required for

display of boards on listed buildings in such areas. Careful attention will be paid to the positioning and method of ﬁxing, to minimise the impact of boards on the character and appearance of listed buildings or conservation areas.

Public Safety Impacts of Signs and Adverts Guidance

A. Signs, adverts, and wayﬁnding infrastructure should not be placed in a location likely to cause obstruction to pedestrians or vehicles, including pedestrian desire lines or occasional vehicular access such as street cleaning.

B. Augmented or virtual reality can enhance users’ experience of the public realm, improve accessibility to information, and promote activity. Augmented reality information / advertisement points should not be located where they could cause obstruction to the safe ﬂow of pedestrians or traﬃc or put any highway user in danger.

C. Signs and advertisements should not distract from the safe enjoyment of the public realm.

D. The use of delineating or signing material, such as road marking, signs, paving or bollards, should be carefully considered not only in terms of signage but also about cost, eﬀectiveness, sustainability, durability and safety (e.g. slip resistance) and in accordance with guidance provided in the Materials Palette document.

E. Projecting and oversailing signs, banners, displays and canopies should provide a minimum safe clearance for pedestrians and road users. Projecting signs should have a minimum clearance of 2.6m. Awnings should have a minimum clearance of 2.14m (and 2.3m at the building façade). Projecting signs should be set back to a minimum of 1m from the kerb edge.

F. Where they require consent, A-boards on the highway will be resisted unless there are exceptional circumstances. Aboards on private forecourts should not cause obstruction to pedestrians, nor detract from the character or appearance of buildings or areas

G. Proposals to introduce new plaques or other markers within the pavement should be treated with caution. Introducing inset plaques, for example route-ﬁnding markers, within footpaths or footways can create slip and trip hazards and can cause a maintenance challenge

Advertising on street surfaces, such as adhesive vinyls, constitutes a slip and trip hazard, and is not supported

Technical Guidance on Public Information Signage

Public information signage across Westminster should be accessibly located, consistent in design, and legible. The City Council will:

1. Encourage public information and wayﬁnding signage which is necessary and enhances the amenity of the public realm (see also ‘Wayﬁnding’ in section 4.5 Street furniture).

2. Promote a consistent approach to signage design and placement.

3. Promote appropriate dual-use of sign posts and other street furniture to help minimise clutter.

Street Signs

Street signage must be consistent, in terms of design, size and height, in any area.

Wayﬁnding

See Wayﬁnding in Chapter 4.5 Street Furniture within this SPD

Traﬃc Signs

The ‘Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016’ (TSRGD) guides the location, design, and appearance of traffic signs/bollards, including road markings, traffic signals and pedestrian crossings.

Traﬃc

Signs Guidance

A. Traﬃc signage should be suﬃcient to enforce regulations but not excessive in terms of numbers and signs

B. Scheme designers are expected to reduce to the practical minimal, road markings and signage to a level necessary to satisfy the regulations and give information, without cluttering the public realm.

C. In all cases the need for signage must be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the highway authority.

D. Unless required by the TSRGD, signs should be unlit. Any signs which require lighting should preferably be externally lit, and should always be lit using a renewable energy source.

E. Decisions to remove signage lighting should be underpinned by robust risk analysis. The expectation is that highway signage is to be de-illuminated as part of the 20-mph speed limit. Retro-reﬂective signs should be standard unless speciﬁc safety issues show the need for illuminated signage, if so, such signage would be externally illuminated.

F. Signs should be at least 450 mm from kerb face to sign edge to reduce being hit.

G. Redundant traﬃc signs should be removed as they can spoil the visual attractiveness of a place.

H. Where signs are required, they should be concise, no bigger than necessary and carefully sited.

I. In the interest of reducing clutter and making best use of limited space, proposals should actively explore opportunities to use existing street furniture for the placement of signage, as opposed to stand alone signs.

J. Traﬃc sign backs should be black, signs should be visible and not obscured from view. Poles should be capped at the top.

K. Traffic bollards, usually on centre islands, should be black and be reflectorised or as noted above. The guide post is used within the World Heritage Sites; outside that area, the council’s standard traffic bollard with white reflective strip should be used

L. Upright signs (traffic bollards – as shown in the example images below) should be reflectorised. Where illumination specifications are not specified, this default applies.

M. Co-location of a waiting or delivery times plate on an unlisted lamp column to save having a separate pole is good rationalisation. Two neat plates back-to-back is also good co-location, and one plate with two sets of information up to 300 mm high and 150 mm wide has been found to be good practice and tolerably neat. Two additions to a post is the maximum desirable.

N. Plates giving delivery and parking times could be ﬁxed to walls or railings. A short post at the back of the footway is an alternative, but less neat, solution.

O. In areas of high demand and high townscape quality innovative ways of presenting information will have to be devised in conjunction with other information and wayﬁnding initiatives

P. For the almost 80% of the city that is conservation area, the 50 mm primrose markings should be used for parking and waiting restrictions.

Figure 67: Example of traﬃc bollard requirements. For further information see: Traﬃc Signs Manual – Chapter 3 - Regulatory Signs (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Signs on Posts Guidance

A. Where acceptable, signs on posts should be consistent within the local area. To avoid street clutter and a proliferation of signs, criteria for the acceptability of new ﬁnger posts will be judged against the published criteria for Legible London signs.

B. Third party signage, including way ﬁnding signage, will not be acceptable within the highway, either on existing or new posts.

Street Name Plates

In accordance with regulations made under the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939, the Council is required to erect and maintain street nameplates throughout the City of Westminster and to affix these to buildings, boundary walls or fences adjoining the highway / at each street corner. These nameplates provide valuable information to pedestrians, motorists, businesses, emergency services and others, and should be readily visible to all. In accordance with the regulations, and to ensure consistency of street nameplates across the city, they must be supplied and fitted by the council.

The world famous ‘Westminster’ street name plates are a council copyright design from the 1960s and must be correctly implemented using the specified typography

Street Name Plates Guidance

A. Street name plates should be ﬁxed within 10 feet of every street corner (excluding the width of the public footway) on both sides of each street and may be placed on part of a building or structure.

B. Installed at a height of between 2.5 and 3.5 metres above ground level for best visibility, where installed on a building.

C. In some cases, historic circumstances require them to be ﬁxed higher or to railings or boundary walls.

D. In rare circumstances they can be pole mounted.

E. Name plates should be repeated at intervals of approximately 200 yards on alternate sides of the street on straight lengths of street without intersections.

F. Placed directly opposite the side street at ‘T’ junctions.

G. Displayed at the point of change if the name of a street changes other than at a junction. Both names should be displayed indicating to which parts of the street the names refer.

H. A complete set of street nameplates is a key requirement, and any omissions and broken links need to be corrected.

I. Historic nameplates or incised or moulded street names that survive should be retained where possible.

See Westminster’s published street naming and numbering guidelines for further details