Applying for Tourist Signing Approval

Obtaining Approval

If after reviewing the Eligibility Criteria as set out in this document, you wish to make an application for tourist signing for your tourist destination, you must complete the relevant application form and send it together with a copy of the letter of accreditation from VisitScotland confirming your eligibility.

The relevant application form can be found in the ‘Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signposting Policy and Guidance’ document on the Transport Scotland website.

Completed application forms should then be submitted to the relevant Home Traffic Authority (see below).

Home Traffic Authority (One-Stop-Shop)

The concept of the Home Traffic Authority was introduced in 2006 to facilitate a seamless ‘One-Stop-Shop’ application process. The intention of the One-Stop-Shop is that applicants deal only with the authority in whose area their tourist destination has its main direct access. This ensures that applicants are not required to make multiple applications if their signing requirements cross multiple local authority boundaries or include a mix of trunk road, motorway and local road sites.

The Home Traffic Authority is the traffic authority for the road that provides the main direct access to a tourist destination.

For a destination taking access from a local road the Home Traffic Authority will normally be the council for the area in which the access lies.

Transport Scotland is the Home Traffic Authority only in those cases where a destination takes its access directly from a trunk road or motorway. Completed applications should therefore only be made directly to Transport Scotland where your tourist destination has a direct access onto a motorway or trunk road.

Home Traffic Authority Responsibilities

The Home Traffic Authority is responsible for liaising with all other relevant authorities (including where necessary Transport Scotland and VisitScotland) and for obtaining any necessary approvals from those authorities.

The Home Traffic Authority does not decide what signs are approved in another traffic authority area but rather to seek the approval of the other relevant authorities on behalf of the applicant.

As co-ordinator of the application process, the Home Traffic Authority must be provided by the applicant with all the information necessary to process the application. This includes any information pertinent to trunk road or motorway sites.

The Home Traffic Authority will need the agreement of any other relevant authorities before signs can be approved in their areas. Applicants should be aware that this can lengthen the time required to process an application (often significantly where there are multiple authorities involved) and should forward plan accordingly when submitting an application.