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  Auckland CBD billboard ban goes to public consultation

Aucklanders will be granted a public consultation period in early 2007 to give input, following an Auckland City Council surprise move to "sledgehammer" through new bylaws effectively outlawing billboards in the CBD.

The ACC move is predicted to have severe consequences for the outdoor advertising industry, which has estimated up to $35-million in lost revenue and an estimated 150 job loss. The ACC proposed implementation period is two-to-five years. The proposed legislation had no input from the outdoor advertising industry.

And charities and community groups stand to lose up to $10 million of free billboard space currently donated to them.
The council claims its dawn raid on advertisers is intended to give Aucklanders "the ability to better appreciate heritage buildings". The Outdoor Advertising Association of New Zealand has revealed it has research showing many residents regard billboards as both "an entertaining and colourful part of the city".

OAANZ spokesman Tim Simpkins told the National Business Review that if the ACC cracked down on illegal billboards under the current registration system, the perceived problem would be solved and the new bylaw risked taking the industry back to 1995, where unworkable laws meant a proliferation of illegal billboards.

Simpkins said that would be a most undesirable state-of-affairs: "These are issues we believe the industry and Council can resolve together without having to resort to a sledgehammer bylaw like this."

This article was made possible for the NZ Property Monitor by Timothy Terence Manning