Rother District Council will decide whether Rye businesses can operate illuminated electronic advertising screens after the firm which installed them without permission was forced to lodge a retrospective planning application.
For several months the three controversial screens have been in operation day and night in the front window of a letting agency on the A259/Fishmarket Road roundabout. Opponents of the screens point out that given the area's relatively low footfall, the advertising is mainly viewed by passing vehicles which, they argue, makes the monitors illegal because the law states that no advertisement can endanger road users, or impair the visual amenity of a site.
The law is very clear on what is and is not allowed in terms of illuminated advertising.
A crucial point is that illuminated electronic advertising is strictly prohibited in Rye conservation area, where the shop is located. RDC will also need to decide whether the screens contravene rules in the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. For example, the law states that illuminated adverts must not include any intermittent light source, moving feature or animation. There are also rules about minimum height of an advert's lowest point and how close to the window and door any illuminated advertising can be.
Interestingly, in its planning application, the screens' operator fails to offer any reason for its decision to install the technology and operate it in Rye conservation area. It does, however, reveal that the largest screen is a 75-inch screen and the two other screens 55-inches in size. Documents indicate the larger "Ultra HD High Brightness" screen puts out a brightness of 4,500 Nits but that the premises will seek to have up to 4,000 Nits available — which is the maximum luminance of the smaller screens. This information appears to be at odds with the applicant's design and access statement which refers to "low level illuminated advertising".
Given that the aim of advertising is to attract attention, local residents may find it incongruous that the operator argues the screens use "darker colours" to minimise glare and that the screens can be dimmed down. At the same time, its own planning application proposes to have available full brightness for the two smaller screens and only concedes an 11% reduction for the largest monitor.
On the surface this planning application might seem insignificant. However, if RDC's planning division approves it, the precedent will mean that every shop and business premises in Rye, including Rye conservation area, will be able to install large electronic advertising screens in their windows. Many people argue that this will destroy Rye's distinct historic character and the tourist industry it depends on so heavily.
Members of the public who wish to lodge comments on the planning application can do so by visiting RDC's website and following to links to Planning and Building Control, quoting planning reference RR/2023/1085/A.
