Owners made to carry out sign cover-up
BAR PAINTS OVER LOGO AFTER COUNCIL THREATENS ACTION
A “detrimental” logo outside a Nottingham bar is being covered over by painters following an order from the council.
American-style dive bar Billy Bootleggers was instructed last November to get rid of the offending sign because it’s not in keeping with the area.
Work was underway yesterday at the property, in Weekday Cross, in the Lace Market, in readiness for the bar’s reopening after lockdown tomorrow.
The owners posted a photo on their Facebook page with the caption: “Booooo” leading some fans to wrongly believe that the bar was closing down.
Elliot Towsey and Paul Scevington, who run bourbon and live music joint, received a letter from Nottingham City Council turning down retrospective planning permission for the large-scale painted logo.
Planners said: “The unauthorised painted signage is detrimental to the visual amenity of the building and wider Conservation Area by virtue of its scale, location and impact upon the character and appearance of the host building.”
The sign, by a local artist, also covered one of the sash windows.
Billy Bootleggers opened at the beginning of October in the building which used to be Filthy’s, and for a short time, Chemistry.
The owners were given eight weeks to appeal against the decision, but if they didn’t remove the logo, they were warned enforcement action could be taken.
Elliot said: “I didn’t know we had to apply for permission with it being painted and not an erected sign. We didn’t foresee it would be a problem.
“The area has a mixture of buildings and styles and I don’t think it’s detrimental. I think it’s a strange decision when in the surrounding area there are other large painted logos on buildings.”
A city council spokesperson said:
“This was a retrospective application to retain a sign that had been put up without consent. It was refused because we share the concerns raised by the Civic Society and Conservation Officer that the sign spoils the appearance of this prominent and characterful building and the wider conservation area.
“The sign also masks one of the original sash windows that has been boarded up, which upsets the composition of the building.”
The owners set up a petition entitled ‘Save Billy’s lovely logo’ soon afterwards which attracted 425 signatures and comments like: “There is absolutely nothing wrong with this logo at all, vibrant and artful like the city” and “Justice for Billy.”
The petition said: “In a world full of large dominant brands and organisations as a small local business creating jobs in the local community it is important to get your name ‘out there’ as much as possible.
“One way of doing that is by painting a massive version of your own logo on the outside of the building that you pay a small fortune for every month.
“In the current climate how could having a painted logo on the outside of a privately owned non-listed building be detrimental to a local area?”