KEY POINTS:
A ban on billboards looks set to come into force, with at least half of Auckland City councillors saying they support it, despite the concerns of the business community.
The report proposing a ban on all billboards in much of central Auckland and in retail areas such as Newmarket is due to go for council approval tonight after it is considered by the planning and regulatory committee this morning.
It proposes to ban billboards in the central city from Hobson St across to Anzac Ave, Britomart, Karangahape Rd and the Viaduct Harbour. It would also see billboards dumped in retail strips such as Newmarket, Ponsonby, Parnell, Otahuhu and around the Valley Road shops in Dominion Road.
Ten of the 20 councillors told the Herald they supported the ban, and two opposed it. The remainder were undecided or could not be contacted.
Some wanted more restrictions but were opposed to a ban, including Toni Millar who said it seemed "against the ethos of private enterprise".
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney urged the council simply to enforce the existing bylaws rather than ban billboards altogether, saying: "This is Muldoonist in the way it interferes with private property rights."
There were 300 billboard sites in the CBD five years ago, compared with 200 now. The trouble was from illegal billboards and signage, on which the council was not clamping down.
Business argued the ban, which the report estimates will lead to the loss of 90 jobs in the outdoor ad industry and US$5.2 million a year from the local economy, would lead to falling revenue.
Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said a managed billboard presence added to the personality of a city, as in Times Square in New York and Piccadilly Circus in London.
"Billboards are part of the tradition and personality of downtown Auckland. They give Auckland City a point of difference, vibrancy and life compared to other world cities."
Professor John Hunt of Auckland University's architecture school and chairman of the council's advisory urban design board said the ban was practical for central city areas.
A glut of advertising made finding useful signs, such as directions and street names, difficult. He said the size and location of some billboards could be hazardous for traffic. "The better model is in European cities where the amount of signage is much less. I think we've let it get away on ourselves here. There are better ways of achieving vibrancy than with billboards."
Cameron Brewer, head of the Newmarket Business Association, said the ban "makes as much sense as banning woolsheds from sheep farms".
The association would fight the ban through the consultation process, if it were approved tonight.
Those who used billboards to advertise claimed billboards were often very clever pieces of creative work. Mark Croft, managing director of film distributor 20th Century Fox, said billboards were dramatic visual ways of advertising blockbusters.
"They talk about protecting the beauty of the city, but that would be one very minimalist city with no colour. I don't know where they've got this idea from. I suspect it's some PC-oriented councillor who seeded the idea which has gained attraction."
Air New Zealand marketing general manager of marketing Steve Bayliss agreed. "The great cities of the world like London, Shanghai, New York and Tokyo celebrate the art of great advertising. Auckland should not be ashamed to aspire to recreate the greatness of these locations."
If the full council accepts the recommendations, the changes are due to be publicly notified in January and public consultation will begin.
GLOBAL PICTURE
* BANNED IN
Central business districts of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
About 1500 cities in the US as well as statewide in Hawaii, Vermont, Maine, and Alaska.
* RESTRICTED IN
Cities including London, Paris, and New York, as well as Auckland currently.
BILLBOARD BATTLES
* SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
Ad companies are taking legal action after the Sao Paulo local government passed a law banning all large advertising displays in the city where billboards could stretch as high as a skyscraper.
It gave companies until the end of 2006 to remove them after introducing the law in November. The law was introduced by Mayor Gilberto Kassab, who said the advertising was "visual pollution." The ad companies claimed the law was unconstitutional and obtained injunctions, which the mayor has sworn to fight.
The BBC reports some residents feared the law would leave a city of grey concrete.
"It would be like Eastern Europe before the fall of communism."
* KYOTO, JAPAN
This year, Kyoto's local government introduced plans to ban billboards on top of buildings and flashing electrical ads throughout the entire city from next year.
Officials said the rooftop billboards blocked the view of the mountains around the city, and flashing ads detracted from the ancient streets.
* KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Opposition members of the city council walked out in protest after the passing of a bylaw increasing the number of billboards allowed on roundabouts and along roads.
They claimed that it would turn the city into a "billboard jungle".
The council did eventually ban banners, posters and advertisements in a limited number of inner-city areas and swore to enforce the bylaws after President Pervez Musharraf said billboards made a city "ugly."
