OMA warns Sydney council plans for outdoor ads will hurt economy and are ‘unlawful’
The Coca-Cola sign in Kings Cross is one of the most iconic pieces of advertising in Australia
The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) is opposing a draft plan from Sydney City Council to clampdown on outdoor signage in a bid to improve the look of the city.
A Draft Development Control Plan 2015 (DCP) into Signs and Advertisements by Sydney City Council is an effort to “best address the promotional needs of the city’s businesses,” with changes to how and where outdoor advertising can be used in the city, including where electronic billboards are able to be erected.
Among issues highlighted by the outdoor industry body include proposals by the council to have 15 per cent of content space available to the council free of charge, which it claims is “unlawful”.
While this article resourcefully summarises a 159 page submission, some context and tone of voice has been lost in translation.The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) always advocates for reasonable, evidence-based regulations, and commends the City of Sydney for taking the steps to formally recognise the important and increasing role digital outdoor advertising plays in our community. That being said, we have identified 14 key issues within the Development Control Plan (DCP) – Signs and Advertisements 2015 that do not necessarily reflect best practice and are contrary to our beliefs, as well as the councils’ existing Economic Development Strategy. What we advocate is a more flexible, mutually beneficial future-focussed DCP that will strengthen Sydney’s economy. Since the draft DCP was released the OMA has had a number of positive meetings with staff and Councillors at the City of Sydney and we look forward to continuing these discussions in developing guidelines that reflect Sydney’s vibrant, modern, connected and global status.
About time. Every piece of public space available seems to have been sold for advertising and it makes the city look disgusting. Public transport needs to be toned down particularly. Buses are covered in bad ads that frustrate and hurt my eyes. The new digital screens at train stations feel intrusive and blinding. Advertising has become less focused on creativity and simply about bombarding the consumer in as many places as possible.
We the people of Sydney have had immeasurable patience with this woman, Clover Moore and her antics. She now has to go.
“Elected” by an unrepresentative cluster of housos and lefty elites, we were prepared to wait and watch her demise at the next election – inevitable now that democracy has been restored by the State government giving votes to those who exist in the city.
But this policy idiocy is the last straw.
Time for Premier Baird to visit the Governor, and dismiss the Council of the City of Sydney, and appoint an administrator. Plenty of grounds, plenty of precedent.
Come on Premier – you know what you have to do. Do it now.
As someone who is a ratepayer and lives in the City of Sydney, I’m sick of the amount of visual pollution in the form of outdoor advertising that has cluttered the area. It’s time those garish billboards be taken down permanently. The worst are those erectile dysfunction ads. Tacky, tasteless, and an eyesore.
@Mike.
Define ‘lefty’.