Proposed changes to Town and Country Planning

[Shane Drew]

If governments have anything to do with signage mate, you can bet on two things.

1.. It will be draconian in its implementation

and 2… It will involve higher fees and charges in the application process (read: Taxes).

Our Queensland Labor State government have implemented new changes here for sign shops last year.

They have made it compulsary to have a restricted builders license if erecting a sign over 3 metres from the ground, or erecting a sign that requires footings.

The restricted builders license is a 4 year community college course, and very expensive, both in dollars and time.

I heard the other day that the owner of the business must have a license, not just an employee. I’m not sure if that is correct though.

If you don’t have a license, you must get a licensed builder to install the sign on your behalf. They charge for this of course.

Even if you have a structual engineer signature to sign off on the sign, this costs me $600 a signature, you still need a builder to sign off also. Most builders around here charge $120 per signature. Of course, if anything is wrong, they cop the blame.

To be honest I’ve lost track of the regulations now, I threw my hands up in disgust.

Every other state here (all Labor ) are now following suit.

Our sign association had a board of elected members, all owners of large sign shops. I think they didn’t fight the government as they saw it as a good opportunity to get rid of small one man bands like me who are a thorn in their side. Our AGM at the time was pretty firey, but the board opened the Bar and most of the guys were more interested in a beer than the results of the vote.

Long term sign shops were told that we would automatically get a license if we had been in the business longer than 10 years. When it came to the legislation going through parliment tho, the goverment recinded that offer.

All it has done is forced a lot of small sign shops out of that area of the market, leaving the big boys with less opposition. I know of a few that have closed their doors, or retired early. Some really good operators too.

The Queensland sign association had their AGM tonight, but I had to work, so I’m not sure of the latest outcome, but rest assured, anytime the government gets involved in any industry, it will be driven by financial reasons more than anything else.

If I were you guys and girls, I’d take an interest in anything that involves your livelyhood.

I look forward to your appraisal of the paperwork Craig.

[Craig Brown]

Cheers Shane – I’m only 30 pages in and my head already hurts. Doesn’t sound to great in your neck of the woods if it’s putting people out of business.

Give me a couple of days and I’ll see what bits I can come back on…

all the best Craig B

[Phill Fenton]

I think most small sign businesses leave it to the customer to obtain planning permission. Our local planning office appears to make up their own rules as they go along – they are certainly not very consistent. How planners ever gave planning permision for advertisements to be placed on main road roundabouts I don’t know 🙄 (Maybe it’s because the local council get a large revenue from these adverts). Scotland will have it’s own sets of rules and regulations – but our Scottish parliament are too busy meddling in the human rights of smokers to worry too much about signs just now.

(That’s a point – I wonder if all the no smoking stuff decided by the Scottish parliament is in fact illegal due to breaches in individual Human rights – If a prisoner can sue because he has to use a "potty" – why shouldn’t a smoker sue about the indignity of having to stand out in the wind and rain if he wants a smoke)

[John Stevenson]

Hey Phil

The no-smoking regulations are possibly the only good thing the Scottish parliament has achieved. I was in the south of England last weekend and It felt really bad to be in buildings where people were smoking.

I had almost forgotten how horrible it is to have my hair and clothes polluted by other peoples exhalations.

Thankfully England is going to be set free from all that soon.

Long live fresh air!

John

[Craig Brown]

Oh my god a smoking debate, better get the hard hats 😉

[Shane Drew]

quote CABROWN:

Oh my god a smoking debate, better get the hard hats 😉

:rofl:

Don’t get me started on a smoking debate :you: :lol1: I’m an avid no smoking fan, and I’m a shrinking violet compared to my dad :angry: , and he is shy and timid compared to my mum. :nagnag: :lol1: :lol1:

[Shane Drew]

on the subject of smoking, this was in our weekend paper….

LESS than a week after Queensland’s new anti-smoking laws came into force, a bar attendant in a suburban Brisbane hotel has been sacked for smoking on the premises. She’d been smoking marijuana in the pub’s toilet for the disabled. The offender wasn’t caught red handed – she carelessly left her bong and a cigarette lighter engraved with her name in the toilet.

[Pauly]

God bless the stoners…………… mwah ha ha ha ha