Streamlined signage rules now in place

New rules that come into effect on 1 October will manage the display of publicly visible signs in a safe and consistent way across the Auckland region.

The Auckland Council and Auckland Transport Signage Bylaw 2015 will guide community organisations, businesses and real estate companies on the size of signs and where to place them.

The bylaw introduces rules based on the zone a business or organisation is located in as defined in the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. For example, it ensures unobstructed pedestrian access for people of all abilities and clear access for emergency services when portable signs are placed on busy footpaths and near bus lanes in metropolitan and neighbourhood zones.

The size of signs and where they are placed on footpaths has long been a source of contention, with council bylaw staff receiving more than 2,000 sign-related complaints from the public last year alone.

Max Wilde, Manager Bylaws and Compliance says “The bylaw introduces a new standard to the management and display of signs across Auckland. It will continue to allow organisations to advertise and promote events or services but most importantly it ensures motorists and pedestrians are not distracted or impeded by poorly located or designed signs.”

The new bylaw replaces 23 different sets of rules inherited from previous councils that related to signs. For businesses as of day one of the new streamlined bylaw, the following will apply:

• Non-portable signs that has been legally established prior to 1 October can remain as long as they are not altered

• Any non-compliant and new signs will need to comply with the new requirements

• Real Estate signs – there are new rules regarding the number and size of signs an agency can put up and where

• Portable signs – ground floor businesses are allowed just one* portable sign. This is to improve safe pedestrian access across the city. If the portable sign is not the correct size, you have six months to rectify this. (*portable signs are prohibited in the Auckland CBD area due to the large volume of pedestrian traffic).

To find out more about the bylaw, visit aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/signage

ENDS

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