According to the poll, carried out by Lonergan Research, more than half of the Canberrans who responded disliked billboard advertising.

Almost 80 per cent believe Canberra's largely advertising billboard-free environment makes it a more pleasant space to live and almost 70 per cent believe such signage reduces the quality of public spaces.

The poll is the latest salvo in a guerrilla war that has been simmering for more than a year following a surprise statement on billboards by Mr Barr on January 25 last year.

The Chief Minister. to be fair, never said he was in favour of a billboard free-for-all.

His concern was public signage regulations had become increasingly complex, exceptions had been allowed to creep in and individuals and organisations were exploiting loopholes.

"The recent national conversation about (Australia Day) billboards and local concerns about the 2016 ACT election corflutes raised the issue of outdoor advertising in the community," he said at the time.

"There are many examples of outdoor advertising - such as billboards on trucks, utes and motorbikes - and large banners draped from buildings that stretch the current regulations. It may be that establishing a small number of designated areas for such outdoor advertising might reduce the proliferation of questionable outdoor advertising material occurring across the city right now."

The response was as swift as it was predictable. ACT Government Planning Committee chair and Greens MLA, Caroline Le Couteur, described Mr Barr's remarks as a "thought bubble" and said there was no community support for any relaxation of the restrictions.

Ms Le Couteur oversaw the ACT Legislative Assembly's "Inquiry into Billboards" that wants signage codes, regulations and laws reviewed and updated by the end of 2019.

All but six of the 166 submissions to the inquiry wanted fewer billboards, not more. An anti-billboard petition signed by almost 800 people had also been received.

Ms Le Couteur, writing in this newspaper last November, said existing laws and regulations did not go far enough.

"The community wants fewer, not more, signs," she said. "The ACT Government should explicitly ban billboards in the Territory Plan (just) as the Federal Government does in the parts of central Canberra that it controls. The ACT Government should... amend regulations in the Territory Plan to reduce the maximum size of advertising signs and close loopholes that allow billboards (including mobile signage) and other very large signs through backdoor provisions."

Given the strength of community feeling, and that the main beneficiaries of any relaxation in controls would likely only be fast food companies and other national and multinational advertisers, there appears little case for more billboards in Canberra.

While Mr Barr is correct in saying the situation has become unnecessarily complex, what he needs to act on is the community's desire to close existing loopholes to ensure Canberra remains beautiful and billboard free.