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Controversial Pizza Express signs in Epping Forest
A restaurant chain has been granted permission to keep controversial illuminated signs in place, despite fears of Epping being transformed into a “Bangkok style High Street”. The signs at Pizza Express in the High Street will stay after a vote by Epping Forest district councillors last night. Considering the retrospective application, they decided to allow the signs to remain but for their brightness to be reduced roughly by half. The decision comes three months after nearby Smiths Fish and Chips was refused planning permission for a new non-illuminated sign, with the council claiming it was “detrimental to the visual amenities of the High Street.”
Objecting to the application during the planning process, a resident of Ambleside, Epping, said: “It seems amazing that permission for this sign could be given, considering the uphill struggle Smiths Fish and Chip shop is having with a comparatively modest sign change… are we soon to be bombarded by a Bangkok style high street as each restaurant/bar seeks to outdo the other?”
The lighting was also questioned at last night’s meeting, with councillor Tony Church asking: “We have always been very anti-this sort of lighting within the conservation area, is there a policy that has changed?” Councillor Nigel Avey criticised the decision to allow more than one sign on the restaurant, which opened in 2013. He said: “It seems to me it is one premises, one shop front and therefore one hanging sign, and therefore should not be allowed.” “They should be allowed one and not two, and on that basis I would object to this application.”
Despite concerns about damage to the Epping conservation area, councillors voted for the signs to remain. Epping Forest District Council is currently considering an appeal from Smiths Fish and Chips owner Martin Legg to keep his new sign, which remains on the restaurant.
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