ONCE again Great Lakes Council rangers have been accused of being heavy handed, but this time, it is towards the circus which wrapped up its run in Forster this week.
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“I deal with councils in every town, and have been doing it for years. We try very hard not to upset anyone and follow the guidelines which can change from town to town, because we want to do the right thing so we can come back,” Shane Lennon, owner of Hudsons Circus said.
The problems they are experiencing over their signage, both fixed and mobile, have shone a spotlight on some of the regulations put in place by the state government.
According to Great Lakes Council’s manager of development assessments, Wayne Burgess, the development application (DA) granted to Hudsons Circus to operate at its current site required the circus to submit a separate DA for signage around the town but they didn’t do that.
The cost for a signage DA is $285 for one sign, plus $93 for every sign thereafter, unless the sign is particularly large and expensive (such as a billboard) in which case the cost goes up further.
Mr Lennon has had sign worth $500 impounded by council for being on the wrong side of the council boundary, and received a parking fine for $104 for their small promotional car, which he says was parked approximately six inches over the line. He has lost 20 small picket signs around town, had 10 warnings, and been informed the circus’ two trucks and small circus car, all of which carry bold signage, are not allowed to park anywhere around town, as they are considered mobile billboards and as such are subject to those regulations.
A mobile billboard requires a driver to be within three metres of the vehicle at all times, and is not supposed to stop. A couple of minutes is considered allowable, but then it must move on.
John Cavanagh, Council’s manager of waste and regulatory services, said his rangers had been very lenient in terms of the circus’ signage, and after what they considered significant warnings decided that at some point a fine needed to be issued. He questioned the six inches over the line fine, saying he had frequently seen the car parked on the footpath on council property. In terms of the $500 session times sign, he said according to the ranger the circus was advised to move it that morning, but by 5pm it was still on council property, and so it was impounded.
“The rules from town to town probably change wherever,” said Mr Cavanagh.
“We have been very obliging, left their banners out, and don’t want to cause trouble with them as we want the circus in town, it brings people in. If they had just applied for a signage DA, they could have got it the same day, then a lot of this could have been avoided.”
But Council’s Mr Burgess admitted that the signage issue in terms of a DA was not an easy fix.
The mobile billboard issue remains an unresolved issue, as the main vehicle for circus staff to pop out around town in has been told it cannot stop, which makes it difficult to go anywhere.
“Signage is always a very difficult issue. But the regulations are there so we don’t have visual clutter” said Mr Burgess.
Mr Burgess thought that most councils would have similar views.
Shane Lennon, a fifth generation circus member who has been working in the business his whole life, was not so sure.
“I have never had so many problems as I have had here,” he reluctantly admitted.
Moving billboard or promotional car?
THE rules differentiating between a moving billboard and a promotional car are not always easy to explain, admitted John Cavanagh, Great Lakes Council’s manager of Waste, Health, and Regulatory Services.
“If a vehicle advertising a specific event or business is mobile, there is not a problem,” he said.
However, he said problems arise when the vehicle becomes stationary for an extended period of time (for example four or five hours) and it is obvious that the sole purpose of the vehicle being at the location is to advertise an event or business. It then requires consent.
But the rule appears to be subjective, depending on the ranger and the situation. In relation to reports of circus trucks being asked to move on after parking briefly on the side of the road, Mr Cavanagh said that parking for the sole intent of advertising, regardless of how long, is not allowed without a permit.
“Rangers do allow for vehicles to be parked without taking any action if they are picking up or unloading, or just using it for transport,” he added.
He also said that if a promotional car is parked for an hour of two while the occupants have lunch nearby, it is not a problem.
When asked how rangers differentiate between parking for promotion, and parking for need, Mr Cavanagh said that it depends on several factors. If it is purposefully painted up for promotion, rangers will take note of a vehicle’s movements. Location also comes into play, if it is in a high use area with lots of passing traffic, such as outside McDonald’s where stationary vehicles can obstruct vision. Lastly parking one to two hours should not be a problem as long as it is not in a high visibility area.
“It’s basically a process of elimination,” he said.
Citing tradies utes, courier, and delivery or removalist trucks, Mr Cavanagh said they are not an issue as their business takes them from house to house, they do not tend to park in busy areas and do not stop for long.