View Full Version : H. Council v. Wick?/Wick's Eyesore signs (merged threads)
As I drove to work this morning I noticed that a council employee was removing the sign for the Caravan Park from the railings at the Rosebank Park.
Assuming that the gent hadn't made this decision himself, why are HC doing what they can to make life difficult for this enterprise?
Some readers may remember the problems the new owners of the caravan park had with the council over vehicular access while trying to build up their business.
Anyone got an explanation?
There is a shortage of Gaelic road signs so H.C. are removing non-essential signage and reusing them to put up Gaelic signs.
;)
There is a shortage of Gaelic road signs so H.C. are removing non-essential signage and reusing them to put up Gaelic signs.
;)
which is also why street signs are not being replaced - all done to confuse the tourists and put them off. There used to be a lovely little lane sign in Castletown - Grassy Backie - which driving through ages ago I noticed was knocked sideways. Eventually it disappeared. Don't think it will ever look the same in Gaelic.
MusicWicker
21-Aug-09, 20:21
Its apparently because these signs are an eyesore. I had a few of my signs advertising the Sergeant concert taken down before the gig even took place! I suppose from now on we'll just have to guess whats on in town.
All the shop advertisements have been taken down too.
According to the Groat this is a 'councillor' decision.
We are also told the law is that no notice can be erected without planning permission. Are there any signs/banners around Thurso?
tommy1979
21-Aug-09, 22:31
Its apparently because these signs are an eyesore. I had a few of my signs advertising the Sergeant concert taken down before the gig even took place! I suppose from now on we'll just have to guess whats on in town.
All the shop advertisements have been taken down too.
stuff em, keep doing putting em up anyway!!!!!!! bloody jobsworths think they know best.
Interestingly, there ARE some signs which have escaped the councillors' vision.
Driving in from Reiss tonight I noticed that there are still 2 Banners up at the Pipe Band Hall; now why haven't they been removed?
Maybe because it would cause a bit of a stooshie...
Let's have one rule for all.
Any of our Wick councillors care to comment?
Do not live in Caithness area now but did notice the banner on the Wick Pipe Bands premises at the Old Church Hall.
Could the council remove something on folks own private property - I doubt this or they would be removing house numbers and names next.
When it comes to fly posting - that is something different, posters stuck indiscriminately with no regard to anybody elses property should be removed and the person who posted them should be charged - this is littering and vandalism.
If in doubt ask any person who has lived in Edinburgh in the lead up to and during the Festivals - every surface is covered in posters, costing the citizens of Edinburgh a fair bit to clean it up as the posters never remove their posters after the events.
After elections the parties concerned have to remove their signs within a certain time or they can and will be charged for this service by the council. Parties are not allowed to put up posters nutil so many days before elections or they are classed as litter too and can and will be removed!
weeksider
22-Aug-09, 10:23
Will all the signs next year for Wick pipe band week , County/Cattle Show ,Mey Games ,JOG Games and Halkirk games & all galas not be allowed up then and @ end of causewaymire rd/berridale breas then ?
So does this new rule apply to any sign? I thought it only applied to businesses advertising, not actual event advertising.
Interestingly, there ARE some signs which have escaped the councillors' vision.
Driving in from Reiss tonight I noticed that there are still 2 Banners up at the Pipe Band Hall; now why haven't they been removed?
Maybe because it would cause a bit of a stooshie...
Let's have one rule for all.
Any of our Wick councillors care to comment?
Pantsman
Why would you think there would be a different rule for the Pipe Band and what kind of stooshie would it cause ??
The banners are on the railings that belong to the Pipe Band, don't think they can start taking signs down from private property.
Just to let you know that the Pipe Band are not excempt from this, their advertising board for their summer shows has been taken down from the area of grass coming in from Tesco.
Amy-Winehouse
22-Aug-09, 17:32
So does this new rule apply to any sign? I thought it only applied to businesses advertising, not actual event advertising.
Music Wicker was advertising an event , it was taken down. What category would this come into as Im sure it isnt a business advertisement - maybe Im wrong but I agree with Tommy1979, screw them as they screw us at every opportunity.
telfordstar
22-Aug-09, 23:35
Music Wicker was advertising an event , it was taken down. What category would this come into as Im sure it isnt a business advertisement - maybe Im wrong but I agree with Tommy1979, screw them as they screw us at every opportunity.
well said....:D
In my veiw the council should put up proper signs for the caravan site as they do elswhere and there should be proper offical boards stratigically placed around to enable event advertising. Disagree with all the fly posting though as it's an eyesore, too many empty shops in Wick makes it look bad without posters thrown on them as well. If you are going to do something, do it properly.
kmahon2001
23-Aug-09, 11:53
If you ask me Highland Council are becoming way to dictatorial. [disgust] We may as well be living in a fascist state. They seem to have forgotten that they are elected to represent the people in the Highlands, not dictate to them.
If the people of Caithness want signs up letting them know of forthcoming events, or locations of amenities, then it's nobody else's business. [mad] As others have said, keep putting the signs up. Everytime one is removed it should immediately be replaced. I know this may cost more for those advertising the events etc, but if possible it should be done as a protest against interference from those who sit in their ivory towers and make decisions without considering the wishes of the majority of the population.
It's time we had our own council in Caithness that would act for the people of this unique county and we should take every opportunity to refuse to be dictated to by despots in Inverness who are using every excuse to try to justify their existence.
I don't think that events are immune - I noticed that a banner at the rosebank for Scottish Opera was also removed by HC.
As far as the Pipe band go, removal of their signs at the old glass factory just exemplifies this nonsensical approach.
However, if as reported in the Groat you need planning consent, does that apply to private property also?
So is this only happening in Wick? Is it just the Wick councillors who have made this decision?
greenasiamcabbagelooking
24-Aug-09, 00:54
This article in Friday's Groat really got my gears grinding !!
the local councillors have decided in their wisdom that 'unofficial' signs advertising local businesses must be removed from the streets around Wick ...
never mind the state of the riverside walk, the grafitti around town, the empty business premises, the lack of anything for young people/tourists to do,
no, instead they have decided to pick on signs advertising local businesses.
don't they realise that without these local businesses being able to prosper then they'll have even more empty premises/chairty shops (both of which raise zero or very little rates).
in Thurso you can walk down the precinct and see several of these signs and the place looks better for it. it shows that theres more happening in the town than just whats on the main street and lets the few tourists we have that there are shops/cafes to visit that they might otherwise have been unaware of.
jobsworth Alex Macmanus was quoted as saying 'no complaints have been received about the removal of signs' ..... but did anyone actually complain about these signs in the first place ?!!
he also had the wit to say ' quite a few had become permanent and we thought they were just going to multiply.' ....
how on earth will they multiply when businesses are going to the wall ?
'and we thought' quote is hilarious , did they do any research into this decision or did they just think this up amongst themselves ?
if business rates drop then the council will have to make up for the shortfall elsewhere ... that's when other services will suffer.
my advice to Wick local council would be to stop being so short sighted and get off your bum, look around your town and tackle the real problems !
rant over ... i feel much better now
Your council sounds similar to the one weve got here. Just doing things that dont need doing and not doing the things that need doing without any consultation with the people they screw money out of every year under the guise of council tax.
greenasiamcabbagelooking
24-Aug-09, 01:08
it's a joke Baz, it really is, these are elected members, elected to represent their towns and communities, but what do they actually do ?
there might be some good sorts amongst them, but why didn't they stand up and say ...'actually, thish deshision is ridiculoush .... now we better get back to work cosh thish liquid lunch has gone on for nearly 3 hoursh ... meeting adjourned '
i'm being facetious here, but i can only assume that they were pie eyed during the meeting when they dreamt this one up.
lazy jobsworths the lot of them
Dont know if you remember a few years ago there was an outbreak of Legionnaires disease caused by a faulty vent in one of our council run buildings leading in the death of several people here in Barrow. The cause was cost cutting by the council by not doing any (or not enough) repairs to the ventilation system. Several years later the same guy is running the council. Sorry cant do links but if you google Legionnaires disease and Barrow in Furness something about it should come up.
Sorry to butt in here but my views on this are as follows:
Yes it is encouraging to see that businesses want to attract custom by displaying signs and I don't for one moment fault these businesses for wanting to do this. Even with the likes of the circus that came to Wick. If, every time there was an event taking place like this, people put posters up all over the place (like the circus did), the town would be a mess. If people want to advertise their business, they should seek permission first. I like the idea they have in Glasgow - they have designated display boards on some of the bins around the city and also on the sides of bus shelters etc. Something like this around Wick would maybe be a good idea for event advertising. For businesses, once one starts putting signs up, advertising their business, isn't this either going to make others do the same which will eventually result in the whole town being covered in signs for every business (including the self-standing signs which are often seen outside restaurants etc in the middle of the pavement for people to trip over. I think the town centre would look much nicer without these signs covering the pavement and it would also allow people to walk more easily, especially people with pushchairs who often have to wait to get past or directing people onto a busy road which is not the best of ideas. Once one business is allowed to erect signs without permission, who's going to stop the others and when does one put their foot down and stop it? Businesses who do want to follow the rules and apply for permission will then feel that it is very unfair that others can display signs without permission when others are obeying the rules. I don't think these businesses are purposely breaking the rules but if the signs aren't removed, others will continue to think it is ok. So in all fairness, what Alex Macmanus has said (quote in the paper) is undoubtedly true. Simple solution is to apply for permission really?
Amy-Winehouse
24-Aug-09, 12:34
Sorry to butt in here but my views on this are as follows:
Yes it is encouraging to see that businesses want to attract custom by displaying signs and I don't for one moment fault these businesses for wanting to do this. Even with the likes of the circus that came to Wick. If, every time there was an event taking place like this, people put posters up all over the place (like the circus did), the town would be a mess. If people want to advertise their business, they should seek permission first. I like the idea they have in Glasgow - they have designated display boards on some of the bins around the city and also on the sides of bus shelters etc. Something like this around Wick would maybe be a good idea for event advertising. For businesses, once one starts putting signs up, advertising their business, isn't this either going to make others do the same which will eventually result in the whole town being covered in signs for every business (including the self-standing signs which are often seen outside restaurants etc in the middle of the pavement for people to trip over. I think the town centre would look much nicer without these signs covering the pavement and it would also allow people to walk more easily, especially people with pushchairs who often have to wait to get past or directing people onto a busy road which is not the best of ideas. Once one business is allowed to erect signs without permission, who's going to stop the others and when does one put their foot down and stop it? Businesses who do want to follow the rules and apply for permission will then feel that it is very unfair that others can display signs without permission when others are obeying the rules. I don't think these businesses are purposely breaking the rules but if the signs aren't removed, others will continue to think it is ok. So in all fairness, what Alex Macmanus has said (quote in the paper) is undoubtedly true. Simple solution is to apply for permission really?
Well if that was the case then when was the last time the cooncil had a clean up of advertising posters & boards before now? Wick must be completely covered in Posters- It wasnt & it would never ever get to be like Glasgow for advertising. Theres more going on in an afternoon in Glasgow than there is in a year in Wick.
If your looking for Eyesores- I raise you Dominoes & Ill see you on Richards garage;)
greenasiamcabbagelooking
24-Aug-09, 13:38
how does a professional looking sign in a field either look like an eyesore or get in anyones way ?!
and back to my previous post .... who has actually complained ?
i'm sure a lot more people have complained about litter/graffiti/dog fouling, but what has the council done about these problems ?
very little, pick on the easy target.
next time there's a local election i'll complain about all the placards strapped to every lampost in the county, that's a real eyesore !!
i hope all the businesses apply and are successfully granted permission to display signs.
Sorry to butt in here but my views on this are as follows:
SNIP
So in all fairness, what Alex Macmanus has said (quote in the paper) is undoubtedly true. Simple solution is to apply for permission really?
The problem is the basic concept that this is a 'unilateral' decision to uphold planning law that appears to apply to Wick and not across the whole county, let alone the the whole of Highland.
Now, as law abiding citizens we have no complaint about the application of the law, however, if the local councillors have taken this decision where is the equality within highland Council?
Why should Wick be singled out as a place where organisations cannot erect short-term signage to publicise forthcoming events for residents and tourists?
I completely agree about 'fly-posting'; I think any posters which are stuck up, without permission, on buildings etc should be removed and the organisers charged a fee for removal. It may also help if there was more publicity about how you 'get permission'...
Why should Wick be singled out as a place where organisations cannot erect short-term signage to publicise forthcoming events for residents and tourists?
It may also help if there was more publicity about how you 'get permission'...
Fair points there
Can any of our west Caithness readers let us know if all banners etc have been removed in Thurso and environs?
MusicWicker
24-Aug-09, 22:11
I dont mind having to apply for planning permission, its the fact that I will probably be charged around £80 for the privilege! If the council were to waive the fee that would be a way forward. That way they can still control the location and amount of signs. I wouldnt have a problem with that.
On the eysore front I vote for several of the buildings around me in Breadalbane. Boarded up an left to rot, maybe the council should concentrate on getting these sorted out. The first being the 3 storey building opposite me that is owned by a certain Mr Nolf and has been empty for 19 years!
I notice that there is a banner for the Singing Kettle at the Rosebank playing fields.
Wonder how long it will last?
Wonder where/if they got permission?
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