Lobby prods S'pore to open new outdoor sites

<p>SINGAPORE: Advertisers and property owners have successfully </p><p>lobbied the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to open up three areas </p><p>in Singapore for outdoor ads and to ease restrictions on some existing </p><p>areas by introducing new guidelines. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Outdoor billboards can now be placed on buildings at the Marina Centre, </p><p>Raffles Place and along the Singapore River between Coleman Bridge and </p><p>Clemenceau Bridge. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Easing of restrictions applied to three precincts where outdoor </p><p>advertising was already permitted - Bugis district; Orchard Road; and </p><p>China Town, Eu Tong Sen Street and New Bridge Road. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The changes mean more outdoor signs can be erected in these areas and in </p><p>some instances it will be easier to gain approval to have sites </p><p>illuminated. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ashley Stewart, managing director of JC Decaux, said: "Having these </p><p>guidelines make it a lot clearer about how and where one can install ad </p><p>signage on building walls. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In Chinatown, it used to be a real hit and miss situation whenever we </p><p>wanted to" erect an outdoor billboard. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Stewart added: "I think the catalyst for the (renewed) lobbying was the </p><p>earlier announcement on the bus shelter contract." After it was reported </p><p>that the contract was worth around S$500 million (US$273 </p><p>million), some building owners believed they could generate significant </p><p>sums of money from the outdoor ad industry, he added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Stewart quickly pointed out the new outdoor sites "aren't going to </p><p>be a goldmine" because Singapore has plenty of outdoor sites. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>