The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Firm in McDiarmid Park advert row
GS Brown owner says council refusal ‘ridiculous’
A plan to emblazon a 50-metre advert for construction firm GS Brown across McDiarmid Park’s North Stand has put St Johnstone at loggerheads with council planners.
The owner of the building company and former club chairman, Geoff Brown, called a decision to deny permission for the plan “ridiculous”.
The creation of the new link between Crieff Road and the bypass means the back of the stand will be seen by thousands of motorists a day.
However, the council argued because the GS Brown Construction branding is not football-related, it has no place on the stadium.
Mr Brown, who is already battling planners over his company’s Oudenarde housing scheme near Bridge of Earn, said: “When you think of all the work I’ve done with St Johnstone since 1986, what difference would this have made? It’s ridiculous.”
Former St Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown has branded a decision to reject a plan to advertise on the back of one of the club’s stands as “ridiculous”.
The Perth club wanted to emblazon the name of GS Brown Construction along the rear of the north stand at McDiarmid Park, but the move has been kicked into touch by council chiefs mainly due to it being 50 metres in height.
GS Brown Construction is owned by former Saints chairman Geoff Brown. His son, Steve, now runs the club.
Geoff Brown insisted the plan isn’t dead in the water.
“It’s ironic when you have football grounds called the likes of the Emirates Stadium that this plan has been refused,” he said.
“The back of the north stand faces Perth Crematorium; there is no one there so who is it offending?
“When you think of all the work I’ve done with St Johnstone since 1986, what difference would this have made? It’s ridiculous.
“However, one way or another we’ll think of something else – there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
In 2016, it had been suggested the club’s north stand could be knocked down to make way for a new road as part of a £13 million transport upgrade.
At the time, Geoff Brown had said to lose the stand “would not be a disaster” for St Johnstone, adding if this did happen there was likelihood a smaller one would be built in its place.
The club then fought a long-running battle over the route of the Crieff Road link route, claiming it would impinge on its training ground.
The link road will run around the back of the north stand, meaning it will be seen by thousands of motorists a day.
Perth and Kinross Council said the size of the proposed advert – 50 metres high – was a primary rejection reason, as was the non-football nature of the signage.
“The existing football stadium is characterised by its own cultural identity and the exterior of the stadium has advertisements of modest design and proportions, which are directly related to the established land use and function of the ground,” planners state.
“Whilst there is no issue with the principle of advertising the established land use function on the exterior of the stadium, the promotion of a housebuilding business, which has no on-site presence, is considered to be unacceptable as it constitutes ‘advance signage’ which is located remotely from the business it promotes.”
GS Brown is currently fighting council and Scottish Government planners over the Oudenarde housing development at Bridge of Earn.