Bylaws to see crackdown on roadside advertising and unapproved advertising hoardings

Bylaws are being drawn up to crack down on the roadside advertising of cars for sale and unapproved advertising hoardings which councillors say are “blighting” towns and villages in Co Cork.

Under the proposed bylaws, council staff will be able to impose financial penalties on offenders.

If the owner of the offending car or trailer sign is readily contactable, council officials will call and say they have 24 hours to remove it or it will be impounded. If the offender is not easily contactable, council staff will place a sticker on the offending item to warn of the pending impounding.

The council is also reserving the right to remove any cars for sale, trailer advertising, and so on with immediate effect and without prior warning if officials believe they are a risk to the safety of road users.

If offending material is impounded, it will be stored by the county council for a period of up to six weeks. In the meantime, the owner will be contacted by registered post to say it can be reclaimed once they reimburse the council for the costs of removal and storage. Any item not reclaimed within the six-week limit will be disposed of by the local authority.

The draft bylaws have been drawn up by members of the council’s roads and transportation special purposes committee. They were initially asked by council colleagues to investigate ways of preventing cars with for sale signs being parked on the sides of busy roads.

They were then asked to broaden their scope to take into account the increasing number of unapproved roadside advertising signs being put on the side of trailers and, in some cases, converted lorries.

Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind), the committee’s chairman, outlined the draft bylaws, which may be tweaked in the coming weeks before being officially adopted.

Cllr Kevin Murphy (FG) said there is widespread abuse of such signs, which are becoming a blight on the landscape and are dangerous because they distract motorists.

Cllr John Collins (FG) said while the council may be able to take action against offending items on the public roadside, some people were now putting trailers inside private property, which is equally distracting to passing motorists. He asked Mr Hurley and his committee to see if there is any legislation they can use to tackle distracting advertising in private property.

Cllr Ian Doyle (Fianna Fáil) said it is vital the bylaws are introduced as soon as possible. However, he said some leeway should be given to community groups or sporting organisations wanting to put up signs to advertise a once-off event in their area.

Cllr Paul Hayes (SF) agreed with him, adding that leeway should also be given to the advertising of charitable events.

Cllr Marcia D’Alton (Ind) said the Carrigaline/Ballincollig municipal district area is “destroyed” with trailer advertising and cars for sale.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey said he and his officials will look in depth at the committee’s recommendations and report back any observations before the bylaws are finalised.