Advertising company responsible for 119 illegal hoardings

The advertising company which is to provide a city bike scheme for Dublin in exchange for free advertising at 120 city locations is responsible for 119 illegal advertising hoardings across the State, An Taisce has told a Bord Pleanála hearing.

The planning board yesterday opened an appeals hearing against 24 of the 120 planning permissions granted by Dublin City Council to one of the world's largest advertising companies, JC Decaux.

The council has granted permission to erect 70 panels of 7sq m (8.37sq yards) and 50 panels of 2.59sq m (similar in size to a bus shelter) at locations around the city for a period of 15 years. All panels will be free-standing, double-sided, can be illuminated at night and can carry moving images.

The council is to receive no revenue from the advertising or rental of the advertising spaces, but will get 450 bicycles, reduced from an original 500, which will be available for hire by the public at a fee yet to be decided.

Under the contract with the council, JC Decaux will also provide four public toilets, a number of signposts, freestanding maps and "heritage trail" posts.

The council has also secured a commitment from the company to remove 100 of its 18sq m advertising hoardings from the sides of buildings in the city.

However, An Taisce told the hearing that these older style hoardings were no longer lucrative and many were likely to be illegal and should be forcibly removed by the council.

An Taisce representative John Stewart said the heritage body had identified 119 locations across the State where JC Decaux was responsible for illegal advertising billboards. These were advertising panels that had either been erected without permission, or had been altered, extended or illuminated without permission.

In 28 cases so far, An Taisce has secured declarations from the relevant local authorities that the developments are unauthorised, eight of which relate to developments in Dublin. JC Decaux had also failed to comply with orders from An Bord Pleanála and various local authorities, Mr Stewart said.

"JC Decaux are in contempt of the board, in contempt of the local authorities and in competent of the people of Ireland as a whole."

An Taisce heritage officer Ian Lumley said the contract between the council and JC Decaux should not go ahead because it conflicted with EU and Irish law. Under an EU directive the project should have been subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA), he said.

It also conflicted with Irish property law, which stated that property owners had rights to a portion of the public road. He added that the applications were "premature" because the city council was preparing an outdoor advertising strategy. The contract should not be allowed to proceed until this strategy was adopted, he said.

Senior planner with the council Mary Conway said the applications did not fall within the EIA remit. JC Decaux has said that Mr Stewart's assertions were untrue and defamatory. The hearing continues today.