Flags - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)

Feels like time that colleagues might be asked to advise (fearlessly and impartially) on some politically charged questions about 'flags' and based on this article perhaps time for some clearer guidance on the technical issues

A couple of points and questions that seem immediately relevant to me (but were not answered) are:

Does the specific flag in question fall within the definition of advertisement in S336 TCPA. Despite what "Flying flags: a plain English guide - GOV.UK" says "In England, the flying of flags is treated as advertisements for the purposes of the planning regime to ensure the flags do not impact on safety or amenity." It is only in fact flags which are within the S336 definition of advertisement that are controlled at all.

The most often ignored clause in S336 is this: "in the nature of, and employed wholly or partly for the purposes of, advertisement, announcement or direction".

If a particular flag crosses the S336 threshold:

Could the flag be exempt under Sched 1? (Not in this case, but I've seen other arguments about County flags, which are exempt)

Could the flag enjoy deemed consent under Sched 3? There seem to be several possible deemed consents (depending on the number and size of flags). One might argue for example that the Public Sector Equality Duty (S149 Equality Act 2010) brings the display of Pride flags within 1A as a function of the authority. 3D applies to 'cultural events' etc Class 6 (forecourts) and class 7(flags on roofs) might all be relevant.

Overall, as planners we need to look beyond the plain English guide and the populist view that 'only Union Jacks and/or the cross of St George can be flown without planning permission'

And don't get me started on whether the English/Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish flags are in fact withing the strict legal meaning of Sched 1 Class H - clearly they should be but does the drafting achieve this?

All reference to Schedules andClasses are to The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007)