Fury as signs removed after single complaint

ANGER: Leven boss forced to take down advertising signs in place for years after rival complains to council officials

A Fife business owner has been forced to remove advertising signs in place for more than a decade after the council received a single complaint.

Jim Parker, who runs Fife Properties, was approached by council planning enforcement officers at his Mitchell Street office in Leven last November.

He was told that a rival estate agent had made a complaint about the three signs on the walls of his property and that they would have to be removed.

Mr Parker subsequently applied for retrospective planning permission for the placards but was rejected as they were allegedly a distraction to traffic.

He claims he has been unfairly targeted as there are dozens of other illegal signs in the area against which the council has not taken any action.

Fife Council denies Mr Parker has been treated differently and said it investigates all unauthorised signage brought to its attention.

Mr Parker said: “Last November, Fife Council planning enforcement officers stormed into our offices in Leven and said we’d need to take our signs down or they would be taking them down.

“They said I didn’t have the authority to have them up even though they are my signs and my walls.

“Another local property agent complained to the council about these signs and that’s when the council decided to take action.

“They’ve said the signs are a distraction to the traffic coming into the roundabout and that they’re a bit unsightly.

“But there are other business nearby who have massive billboards outside at the front of their properties. Some of them even have illuminated signs.

“Is this Animal Farm where there’s one rule for some and one rule for the others? I applied for retrospective planning permission but the council knocked it back. I’m dumbfounded by the whole thing.”

The Labour councillor for Leven, Kennoway and Largo, Colin Davidson, backed Mr Parker, saying: “To me, it’s nonsense to say it’s a distraction to traffic and it’s regrettable that they have not applied common sense to a sign that has been up for more than a decade.”

Derek Simpson, lead officer for development management, said: “Following a complaint from a member of the public, Fife Council undertook an investigation into the signage, which confirmed that signage had been erected without advertisement consent.

“Following the refusal of a retrospective application, and an unsuccessful appeal against an enforcement notice, the unauthorised signs were removed.

“Mr Parker has not been treated any differently to any other member of the public who is subject to an enforcement investigation or formal enforcement action.”

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Is this Animal Farm where there’s one rule for some and one rule for the others?” JIM PARKER

Picture: Kim Cessford. Jim Parker, with his estate agency in the background, was ordered to remove the signage from the shop after council officers claimed they were a distraction to drivers.