Roadside signs which have directed customers to a rural timber firm for nearly 15 years will have to be removed after Scottish Ministers branded them ‘clutter’.
Drem Timber and Fencing , in East Lothian, had appealed to the Scottish Government after the local authority ordered them to take down the signs.
Insisting they were essential to help people find their business at Fenton Barns Retail Village, they pointed out one, which sits on a trailer on a country road, has been there for over 14 years.
However the Scottish Government Reporter has backed East Lothian Council’s planners who argued the signs were roadside clutter and that an entrance sign to the village, which is reached off the B1345 which runs from Dirleton to Drem, was enough.
Planners refused retrospective planning permission for the signs on the country road leading to the retail village entrance, describing it as an “undesirable precedent” for other companies to add their signs.
In an appeal lodged with Scottish Ministers, representatives of the timber firm said one of the signs had been in place for 10 years while the other had been roadside for 14 years.
One sign was described as 1.9 metres wide and nearly 1.9 metres high, the other was 1.2 metres wide and 3.2 metres high.
The timber firm argued that the signs made it safer for drivers using the road to find their business.
They said: “For the business to operate efficiently, customers must be able to find the premises easily and safely.
“Satellite navigation cannot be relied upon in this area and the business has experienced customers getting lost or being directed to the wrong address.
“This is harmful to the business and reinforces the need for clear directions for road users.”
The Reporter, however, identified numerous advertisement and direction signs promoting the way to the retail village and the timber business located on the road to the entrance during a visit to the area.
He said the offending signs which the council wanted removed did not pose any risk to public safety but were, in his conclusion, “visual clutter”.
He said: “In light of the above, I therefore consider that the advertisements would result in visual clutter which would have an adverse impact on the amenity of the rural environment.”
