ROTHERHAM Council has come under fire for erecting a jumb-sized panto poster without planning permission!
The council cracked down on pensioner Arthur Newey who was forced to remove an ad for his son’s carpet cleaning business which he put on the side of his Dalton home in 2009.
But angry campaigners say the authority chose to ignore rules it enforces on others when it put up the banner plugging Jack and the Beanstalk outside Rotherham Central Library.
Bramley resident Don Buxton, who uncovered the situation using Freedom of Information laws, criticised the council for selectively deciding which legislation to observe.
He added: “What we have here is RMBC choosing to ignore the clear legal framework and planning legislation when it applies to itself, but which it vigorously and harshly imposes upon citizens and businesses.
“The planning department is at least very consistent with the farcical way it tries to discharge its expensive duties with jobsworth zeal on our behalf.
“But unlike the commercial world, where failure is an expensive lesson, those within RMBC continue to draw top dollar salaries whether they deliver 100 per cent or zero.”
The borough council’s own planning guidelines say that large poster hoardings in prominent locations usually have a “dominant visual impact” on their surroundings and need to be sited with care.
A council spokeswoman confirmed that the pantomime banner did not have the necessary advertising consent.
She said: “We have received no other complaints from the public about this particular banner, which was first erected several years ago.
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“The complexities of advertisement consent does allow for temporary posters, if they are within a certain size range, to advertise local cultural events.
“However, in this case, the poster, which has been erected for six months at a time, does exceed that size range and so does require consent.
“The poster will not be removed, but an application will now be made to retain it until January.
“Once removed in January, the poster will not be erected on that particular site again as the Arts Centre is to be demolished as part of the regeneration of the site.”
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