By Stefanos Evripidou
GREEN Party deputy George Perdikis yesterday urged parliament to study the Town Planning law that regulates the use of billboards as soon as possible.
Speaking at a news conference, Perdikis said the regulations would complement the bill passed a day earlier by parliament curbing the use of roadside billboards by banning boards closer than three metres from the streets in the cities and 40 metres from the highway.
The new rules will regulate the form of the billboards, their content, and their relationship with the natural or urban environment, such as buildings or monuments.
He highlighted the need for the government to implement the regulations and for municipalities to come to an understanding with the advertising companies for the removal or pulling back of billboards. Advertisers have until October 1, 2003, to meet the criteria of the new legislation or face having their boards torn down.
The deputy pointed out that the 51 billboards on a 33-kilometre stretch of the highway would have to be reduced to 12 under the new law, translating to a 76 per cent reduction.
AdBoard manager Michail Kyriakides yesterday hailed the regulations as a positive thing, saying billboards would finally be given legitimacy. However, he said the legislation was complicated and would require further study before he could say how it would affect his business.
Currently, most billboards within the city do not meet the three-metre criteria and will have to be knocked down before October.
One advertising officer said that they would pursue the matter of compensation if the municipality tore down their ads, given that it was the municipality that told them where to place the boards.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
