Alan, Jill and Hamish recently received a message from the Council’s planning enforcement officer about the tiresome plethora of BT adverts appearing across Sutton and across London as well.

Dear Councillor,

I am writing to you in connection with the above advertisements which have started to appear on a number of BT equipment cabins throughout the Borough.

I’ve spoken to Rob Chapman who is the Regulatory Specialist Manager for BT Openreach and who is involved in the rollout of these advertisements across the country. I’ve explained to him that due to the suburban, attractive residential character of much of our Borough, these signs have a far greater impact on our surroundings than some of the more commercial inner city Boroughs such as Westminster, Southwark etc where advertising is more prevalent.

I have asked Mr Chapman to remove the signs but he has politely declined my request as BT Openreach consider that they do not require express advertisement consent. However my colleagues and I disagree with this. Their argument focuses around their contention that the Superfast Broadband box constitutes a “building” rather than an “equipment cabin” and therefore has deemed consent (they don’t need to apply to the Council for consent). Normally we would now be seeking to prosecute BT Openreach as it is an offence to display an advertisement without the necessary consent, however my colleagues in Westminster City Council are about to embark upon their own prosecution against these signs and have already obtained Counsel’s opinion on the strength of BT’s argument. On this occasion I think it would be prudent to wait and see how Westminster get on with their prosecution and learn from their experience.

In the meantime we have the situation where these signs appear to be spreading throughout the Borough and residents are justifiably frustrated that we aren’t taking any action against them.

Please find attached a copy of a self-adhesive vinyl sign I propose to stick over the adverts in question and a photograph of one in situ. It is without question at the sharper end of Planning Enforcement practice and is designed to remind the advertiser that the advert is unauthorised and also sow seeds of doubt in those looking at the advert whether the service advertised is still available or not. Hopefully it will generate adverse publicity for BT and will further persuade them to abandon this form of advertising at least in the London Borough of Sutton….

Regards,

Michael Lowe, Principal Planning Enforcement Officer

London Borough of Sutton,Environment and Leisure, 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 2JG

BT Cabinet with Advert