Portable signs in the city centre zone

Using portable signs in the city centre zone

Portable signs, for the purpose of this rule, include:

• portable board signs
• portable flag signs
• portable ladder board signs.

Where you can display portable signs in the city centre zone

You can only display a portable sign in the city centre zone in an area that is not a council-controlled public place (for example, on private property).

You can refer to clause 5(1) on page three of the Signs Bylaw 2022 for a full definition of a council-controlled public place.

Portable signs in city centre areas that are not council-controlled

You can display portable signs in city centre areas that are not council-controlled with some restrictions:

• You can only display one portable sign per premises.
• If your premises has both direct ground floor frontage and direct ground floor access, you can display either a portable board or a portable flag sign (not both).
• All other premises in the same building that do not have both direct ground floor frontage and direct ground floor access must share a portable ladder board (a sign listing multiple businesses).

Portable signs can only advertise the premises (for example, the business name) and things that you can buy or do on the premises, such as:

• services
• goods
• products
• activities
• events.

Additional rules depend on the type of sign you are using.

Portable board signs

You can display a portable board sign outside your city centre premises in an area that is not council-controlled if:

• your premises has both direct ground floor frontage and direct ground level access
• you display either one board or one flag sign per premises (not both)
• your sign is at least 10m away from any free-standing identification signs related to the same premises
• your sign is maximum 1.2m high by 0.6m (600mm) wide by 0.46m (460mm) deep.

Portable flag signs

You can display a portable flag sign outside your city centre premises in an area that is not council-controlled if:

• your premises has both direct ground floor frontage and direct ground level access
• you display either one board or flag sign per premises (not both)
• your sign is at least 10m away from any free-standing identification sign related to the same premises
• your sign is a maximum 0.5m (500mm) width, 1.85m display area height, and total height of 2.2m.

Portable ladder board signs

You can display a portable ladder board sign outside your city centre premises in an area that is not council-controlled if:

• your premises does not have direct ground floor frontage and does not have direct ground level access
• there is only one portable ladder board sign per building for use by all premises. This must be the only portable ladder board sign for the building
• your portable ladder board sign is at least 5m away from other portable ladder board signs
• your portable ladder board sign is at least 10m away from any free-standing identification sign related to the same premises
• your portable ladder board sign is a maximum of 1.5m high by 0.8m (800mm) wide by 0.46m (460mm) deep.

Where you cannot display portable signs in the city centre zone

You cannot display a portable sign in the city centre zone in any public place controlled by Auckland Council. This includes:

• on footpaths on Queen Street, Karangahape Road and at Wynyard Quarter
• on civic spaces such as Aotea Square, Freyberg Place, Khartoum Place, Queen Elizabeth Square and St Patrick’s Square.

You can read a full description of the rules in clause 11 of the Signs Bylaw 2022.

 Get a map showing where portable signs are not allowed

​Get a copy of the Signs Bylaw 2022