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End of the road for sign saga Berwick Today

01.04.11

By Ian Smith

A PLANNING inspector will decide in the next three weeks whether controversial roadside signs promoting a local tourist attraction will be allowed.

Barn at Beal owner Rod Smith’s appeal against Northumberland County Council’s refusal of permission for a sign next to the A1 was heard in Berwick on Thursday.

He hopes a positive outcome will finally bring an end to the long-running saga which has seen several previous planning applications turned down over the past three years.

However, he faces strong objections from both the county council and the Highways Agency on the grounds of visual amenity and safety.

“It’s extremely frustrating that it’s reached this stage,” Mr Smith admitted. “I don’t think the sign has any impact on safety. The clutter of the other signs around the Holy Island junction cause more obstruction than my sign.

“I also think my sign is visually appropriate. It’s meant to be subtle and eye-catching in a discrete sort of way.”

The sign is currently mounted on a horse cart in a field he owns next to the junction but Mr Smith wants to have a proper sign erected.

The council refused the application in October on the grounds of its visual impact on an area of intermediate landscape value.

Council planning officer Asif Khan said: “The local authority consider the site to be in open countryside and contend the sign is out of character with an area of intermediate landscape value. It would also cause significant potential for obstruction to drivers in terms of highway safety.”

Catherine Gwynn of the Highways Agency added: “There is concern at the potential for an increase in accidents because of driver confusion at that junction.”

She felt that northbound drivers turning right towards Holy Island may be confused by southbound drivers hitting their brakes when they see the proliferation of signs, including speed warning signs, on the approach to the junction.

Mr Smith had earlier pointed out that promotional signs were already in place at nearby Haggerston Castle caravan park. And he argued that the council’s north area planning committee had just approved a similar application from Sunnyhills Farm Shop in Belford.

He said: “Haggerston Castle has banners, flags and illuminations and that is less than half a mile from me and yet it’s deemed visually acceptable.

“As for the Sunnyhills sign which has recently been approved, I would say my sign has a superior backdrop of a woodland and that the speeds of traffic going past their sign will be considerably higher than those going past mine.”

However, Mr Khan explained that Haggerston Castle’s adverts were located on its premises and the Sunnyhills decision had been recommended for refusal by officers only to be overturned by members.

Mr Smith revealed there had been no accidents involving southbound vehicles since 2004 and only a handful of other accidents at the junction.

“The fact is that people see the speed camera and the warning signs and are slowing down anyway as they pass my sign,” he argued. But Mr Khan said: “The A1 is a national trunk road so any additional structure so close to the junction for Holy Island, the pub and garage is going to cause confusion from a highway safety point of view.”

Miss Gwynn added: “The area of concern for the Highways Agency is the number of existing road signs and the extent to which the driver would have to divert their eyes from the road ahead.”

Mr Smith first applied to Berwick Borough Counncil for signs on the approach road to the Barn at Beal in 2008. When no decision was forthcoming he put the signs up only for the council to reject the application. He then took the case to the Planning Inspectorate but his appeal was rejected and he was told to remove the signs. He attempted to get around that decision last year by putting a promotional sign on a horse cart only to be served with an obliteration notice by the council.

The sign is still there but the council has insisted it will proceed with enforcement action if the appeal is refused.

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