My letter to Angela Rayner about billboards and adverts

I’ve written to Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, about billboards and digital adverts, asking her to do more to tackle the negative effect of outdoor advertising.

Elected Greens across the country have championed progressive new advertising policies, for example in places like Bristol, Sheffield and Edinburgh. When I was a local councillor in Bristol, I played a key role in securing the ban on advertising for junk food, alcohol, gambling and payday loans on council-owned billboards and advertising screens in Bristol.

It’s very promising to see councils implementing new policies to protect their residents from some of the impacts of consumerism, advertising, greenwashing and injustice. But that’s not enough. National planning laws need to change – they haven’t kept pace and it is clear that local authorities and communities need more power to object to harmful ads.

Chris Packham recently launched a petition asking for a national ban on fossil fuel advertising, it already has thousands of signatures. There is clear public support for more restrictions on advertising in public spaces and saying ‘no’ to greenwashing.