Appeal 6009148

The appeal is dismissed.

The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007 (the Regulations) require that applications for the display of advertisements are considered in the interests of amenity and public safety, taking into account the provisions of the development plan, so far as they are material, and any other relevant factors. Factors relevant to amenity include the general characteristics of the locality, including the presence of any feature of historic, architectural, cultural or similar interest.

The appeal site lies within the Brixton Conservation Area (the CA). Section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 applies to the exercise of functions under the Planning Acts. I have therefore had special regard to section 72(1) in so far as it relates to the consideration of ‘amenity’.

The Council’s second reason for refusal states that “the scaffolding with advertisement by reasons of its use, siting, scale and design would fail to prioritise pedestrian movements at a busy section of [address] and is likely to impact the operation of the road network and does not improve road safety for all users”. This appeal solely relates to an application for advertisement consent for a temporary decorative scaffold shroud wrap. Whilst this would be attached to scaffolding, in this instance the scaffolding itself falls outside the remit of the application and appeal. The Council does not suggest that the proposed advertisement for which consent has been sought would have any detrimental effects on public safety.

For the reasons set out above the main issue is the effect of the proposed advertisement on visual amenity, with particular regard to whether it would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the CA.

Temporary advertisement consent for a period of 9 months was granted at appeal1 on 17 April 2025 for a decorative scaffold shroud wrap advertisement at the appeal property comprising a 1:1 replica image of the building façade with an inset advertising area measuring 5.7m tall by 9.3m high together with “optional” lighting of the advertising area by 4 downlights. The advertisement approved at appeal was to be attached to scaffolding to enable repairs and maintenance to the external fabric of the building which were set out in a schedule of works together with a 9- month timescale for the execution of the works. My colleague assessed the 2025 appeal proposal on that basis.

The information before me indicates that a large advertisement was attached to the appeal property covering the first and second floors of the street frontage. This was subsequently removed. At the time of my visit there was a tubular metal frame attached to the building frontage with 4 projecting lights above it. There was no evidence of any works to the building façade having been carried out to the frontage. The advertisement consent granted at appeal expired in April 2026.

The appeal property forms part of a handsome, 3-storey, red brick, [name] style terrace with commercial uses on the ground floor and accommodation within an attic level. It is situated within the busy commercial heart of Brixton close to the underground station, bus stops, Lambeth Town Hall, the [name] and the [name]. The terrace of which the appeal property forms part makes a clear and positive contribution to the character and appearance of the CA.

The proposal would comprise the installation of a shroud attached to scaffolding with a 1:1 printed replica image of the appeal property’s frontage above shopfront level. This would wrap around the 2 ends of the scaffolding to a depth of about 1.5m therefore allowing space for building repairs and maintenance of the frontage. A large proportion of the shroud would be occupied by an advertising area measuring about 5.7m tall by 9.3m wide which would be illuminated by 4 projecting lights. Temporary consent has been sought for a 9-month period commencing on 17 November 2025 and ending on 17 August 2026.

The shroud now proposed replicates the one approved in April 2025. I therefore attribute significant weight to my colleague’s conclusions and share his view that the proposal would represent a visual improvement on the likely alternative, namely scaffolding enclosed with sheeting or netting during renovation works.

The Lambeth Local Plan 2020-2035 (2021)2 states that temporary shroud advertisements at high level on scaffolding are generally only considered appropriate in town centre locations and applicants will be required to provide a full schedule of the building works being undertaken and a timescale for those works so that any consent granted can be time limited. The Local Plan clearly indicates that the acceptability of shroud advertisements presupposes that they are 1 APP/N5660/Z/24/3352171 2 Paragraph 10.80 associated with building works, namely they would cover scaffolding used as part of the construction or renovation of a building for a temporary period of time.

Similarly National Planning Practice Guidance3 recognises that buildings which are being renovated or are undergoing major structural work and which have scaffolding or netting around them may be considered suitable as temporary sites for shroud advertisements or large ‘wrap’ advertisements covering the face, or part of the face, of a building. In line with this the Council’s Advertisement & Signage Guidance – January 2016 (ASG) advises that, in the absence of façade refurbishment and/or scaffolding, the display of temporary shroud advertisements would be unacceptable in principle.

It is clear from the above that a shroud advertisement can only be viewed as potentially acceptable in circumstances where renovation works to a street frontage are needed, will be carried out and will lead to the enhancement of the frontage and therefore the character and appearance of the property and its surroundings.

The application was accompanied by a Schedule of Condition and a Schedule of [address] Items, both dated July 2024, the latter of which suggests that the works described in the document would take up to 9 months to complete. Such works could have been carried out with a shroud wrap in place following the approval of the earlier proposal in April 2025. However, an advertisement was attached to the appeal property without the scaffolding needed to undertake the renovation works described in the schedules. It would appear the appellant’s primary aim has been to install advertising as opposed to renovating the appeal property’s frontage. The fact that the tubular structure now attached to the building has harmed the frontage somewhat corroborates this.

Additionally, the application seeks consent for a limited period that would expire in a few months’ time therefore making it impossible to carry out the 9-month programme of works referred in the appellants’ Schedule. For these reasons I consider it extremely unlikely the appeal proposal would form part of any meaningful renovation works.

In the absence of clear evidence that the temporary impacts of the proposal on amenity and the character and appearance of the CA would be outweighed by renovation works that would lead to the long term benefits I conclude that, due to its size and siting the proposed advertisement would have an unacceptable effect on visual amenity and would fail to preserve the character and appearance of the CA.

In accordance with the Regulations, I have taken into account the provisions of the development plan so far as they are relevant to amenity. The policies cited by the Council in its reason for refusal seek to protect amenity, therefore they are material in this case. [name] have concluded that the proposal would harm amenity, the proposal conflicts with these policies.

For the reasons set out above, and having regard to all other matters raised, I conclude that the appeal should fail. [planning inspector] INSPECTOR 3 Paragraph: 005 [name]: 18b-005-20140306