'Roadside advertising'

[DaveK]

Wonder if anyone has experience of using what I'd term 'roadside advertising'? I've been struck, driving around locally over recent weeks, by the number of small notices on the roadside advertising local fairs/fetes, etc. I noted, particularly, a large number, spread over a wide area, promoting firstly a 'Heavy horse show' and secondly 'Opera in the open' at local private estates. Now, I have to say that neither of these two tempted me (what do they do at a heavy horse show?), but the possibility of notices at an event area, saying for example 'Orienteering here next Sunday - give it a go' - with the club's website address, looked to be a possibly effective and cheap form of advertising. If I say that the 'Heavy horse show' was at Eridge Park (scene of the recent Harvester and JK relays in 2008) - between the A26 and A267 - which must together carry some thousands of cars each day - the potential seems obvious - irrespective of any planning issues. Has anyone tried this though and was there any 'return' in terms of beginner/competitor numbers?

[AndyC]

On the other hand day two of the JK 2009 was blighted slightly because traffic police removed an agreed direction sign because it was "slowing up traffic" -I know what effect a few hundred lost orienteers had on traffic flow!
So there is a downside to the obvious.

[Red Adder]

Technically you probably need (and would have to pay for) planning permission.

I wish BOF hadn't ever introduced that direction sign with the swirl - its virtually indistinguishable from the myriad signs to new housing developments - any sign with the control symbol on it was 1000 times more useful in finding the entrance to an event.

[Sunlit Forres]

We tried this for the first time in Moravian at our Darnaway event in Feb 2009 and got far and away the biggest attendance we've had for this regular February fixture. We used one of SOA's 'No Ordinary Run' banners along the A96 (Aberdeen to Inverness) road and there were road works there all week that conveniently slowed down the traffic.

We didn't do a survey of why people turned up, but several people I know who have no interest in orienteering mentioned that they'd seen we had an event on.

Publicity shouldn't be judged in terms of a single event, or discounted because it doesn't produce immediate results. It's a long-term thing. We now try to make sure that orienteering is always in the public eye locally, either in the press or on the roadside when we have an event coming up. Orienteering signs are like newspaper articles - people notice them, often subconsciously, but don't pay a lot of attention unless they're already interested. Still, I bet DaveK would have mentioned that he'd seen a heavy horse show or opera in the open sign if either subject had come up down the pub.

I doubt whether there are many people round here who don't know there's an orienteering club in the area. At least anyone who does decide to give it a try sometime in the future knows we exist.

[RCB]

I once advertised a low key sprint triathlon using roadside signs (some time ago before the sport grew in popularity). The turnout was small however, 20% of the entry turned up having seen the roadside signs over a period of three or four days, the remainder were from the local triathlon club and they then offered the newcomers incentives to join.

[roadrunner]

Technically you probably need (and would have to pay for) planning permission.

I remember once being involved in a Neighbourhood Watch scheme, and while we didn't need planning permission for the signs on the lampposts, we did have to have insurance. The cost was basically the insurance company's admin charge, in that the risk was minimal, I think about £25. A bit steep for one event, but maybe something that could be negotiated over many events or even nationally (is it covered by BOF insurance anyway?)

[DaveK]

I once advertised a low key sprint triathlon using roadside signs (some time ago before the sport grew in popularity). The turnout was small however, 20% of the entry turned up having seen the roadside signs over a period of three or four days, the remainder were from the local triathlon club and they then offered the newcomers incentives to join.

Yes, this I guess is what I was looking for. 20%ish turned up as a result of seeing the roadside signs - I don't think that is a bad return at all. So it is possibly worth a go? I doubt very much that fair/fete (or heavy horse/opera in the open) show organisers bother with planning permission - I think local Council highways departments might be a bigger problem - but if the signs are only there for a week or so (as they seem to be for fairs/fetes), then the appears to be little difficulty. Watch for a trial down South (East) here.

[RJ]

..... I think local Council highways departments might be a bigger problem - but if the signs are only there for a week or so.....

If you are breaking the law, or infringing some rule/regulation about displaying signs on the public highway..... then the relevant authority will have all the details they need to approach you (the club) to make representation, by studying the signs(!!!). You may receive a 'pleasant' letter in due course informing you of the infringement and the fine being imposed!!

The police were not keen about advertising on trailers in fields next to main roads because it distracted motorists attention.

Perhaps a little research might be appropriate!!!

[Scott]

Looking at the rules, I think that you should be okay without planning permission so long as your sign is less than 0.6 square metres (about 3ft by 2ft). I guess it would fall under Class 3(D) of "deemed consent" adverts, so long as your event didn't have a "commercial purpose":

Class 3(D) permits temporary notices or signs which are intended to advertise any local event being held for charitable purposes, which may be religious, educational, cultural, political, social or recreational, but not for any commercial purpose. This permission would include an advertisement for:

• a church bazaar
• a fete for a parent-teacher association
• a sponsored marathon in aid of charity
• an amateur sports event, but not any sporting event organised for commercial purposes.

The advertisement permitted by Class 3(D) must not exceed 0.6 of a square metre.

Advertisements permitted by Class 3 must not:

• have any letters, figures, symbols or similar features of the design over
  0.75 of a metre in height, or 0.3 of a metre in height if they are in any
  Area of Special Control;
• have the highest part of the advertisement at more than 4.6 metres
  above ground-level, or 3.6 metres in any Area of Special Control [...]; or
• be illuminated in any circumstances.

And, if a Class 3 advertisement relates to a sale or event, it must not be
displayed more than 28 days before the sale or event begins and must be
removed within 14 days after it ends.

But obviously it would be sensible to check with the planning authority anyway.

[mikee74]

I'm a Local Authority planning officer by weekday and keen orienteer by weekend, and responsible for enforcing these regulations in my area, so hopefully I can shed some further light!

The post immediately above mine is helpful - as it shows what can be erected under a deemed consent (i.e. without requiring Advertising Consent from the Local Planning Authority). Also, just on a technical point, it's Advertising Consent (not planning permission) that is required for signs.

However, I am not 100% convinced that Class 3D of the Advertising Regulations would apply to orienteering event signs - the crux of the matter is whether it is a recreational activity that is not an event promoted or carried on for commercial purposes (as Scott points out above). There is no definition of commercial purposes in the legislation, but if an orienteering event makes a profit, and that profit is then used to benefit the club (buying new equipment, maps etc), then arguably it becomes a commercial event. On the other hand, an orienteering club is not organising an event wholly for profit, so there is also an argument that it is not a commercial event, and Class 3D would therefore apply to orienteering signs. It's also worth pointing out that Councils can remove these rights to deemed consent (under a Regulation 7 Direction), so if the area is a sensitive one, it's still worth checking with the Council.

I will see if I can find any useful case law or appeal examples to shed any further light on whether Class 3D would reasonably apply to sporting events such as orienteering, but in the meantime it's also worth pointing out that displaying a sign without the necessary consent (if it needs it!) is a criminal offence - so putting up such signs does involve some risk, although I think it highly unlikely that anyone would ever report one, providing the land owner's permission has been sought to display the sign!

[RJ]

.......providing the land owner's permission has been sought to display the sign!

However, I think we are probably talking about roadside verges here..... highway! Best not to be perceived as a nuisance sport though! It would certainly be a good idea to clear this one up, as the opportunity to advertise an event on an approach road to a venue for the previous week(s) sounds like a really good idea.

[ba-ba]

possible ways round 'making a profit from the advertised event' is concerned:
1.) register as a charity. hmmm...
2.) Highlight to anyone waving a fine that the money raised by said event was/will be used to help fund any school Orienteering projects/Clubnights etc that your club is a part of. Just because you're not registered as a charity doesn't mean you don't benefit others.
3.) blame a rival club...

[mikee74]

Just been doing a bit more research - Central Government Circular 03/2007 was published in March 2007, to provide some more explanation of the new Advertising Regulations 2007, and provides some further detail of the various Classes of advert that benefit from a 'deemed consent', i.e. ones that do not require express consent from the Local Planning Authority.

The Circular states:
"Class 3D permits temporary advertisements advertising any local event or activity being held for charitable purposes. The event or activity may be religious, educational, cultural, political, social or recreational, but cannot be an event or activity promoted or carried on for any commercial purpose. Class 3D advertisements include advertisements for a church bazaar, a fete for parent-teacher association, a sponsored marathon in aid of charity, an amateur sports event, but not any sporting event organised for commercial purposes."

As such, there is the strong case that as an orienteering event is an amateur sports event, run by volunteers, and is not solely organised for commercial purposes, it would benefit from the temporary advert rights under Class 3D - and that is my personal opinion too.

Whilst the use of the word 'charitable' puts a slight doubt on that, I still think that Class 3D rights would apply to an orienteering event, although an appeal decision to clarify this would be helpful (perhaps in relation to another amateur sporting event run by volunteers) - although unfortunately I'm not aware of any!

[redkite]

it would be difficult for anyone to successfully argue that any of our events are organised for 'commercial' purposes.

We do not organise events for anyone's gain. Any surpluses are reinvested back into the sport to cover the cost of organising the events. e.g. maps and si.

[madmike]

Given Orienteering Clubs should now be registered with the Inand Revenue as "Community Amateur Sports Clubs" we must, surely, be organising amateur sports by definition?

Joined up Government