Giant signs on top of the newest store in Bognor Regis may have to be torn down.
GIANT signs on top of the newest store in Bognor Regis may have to be torn down.
Sainsbury’s is set to be ordered to remove the large advertisements from its premises on Shripney Road.
Members of Arun District Council’s development control committee are being recommended next week to tell the retailer to get rid of the notices.
The two signs already in place on store’s roof spell out Sainsbury’s name in internally-lit letters. They measure 7,150mm (23.4ft) by 3,450mm (11.3ft). The highest point of each sign is about 12,745mm (41.8ft) above sea level. A third sign of the same size is proposed.
Bognor Regis Chamber of Commerce chairman and president Nick Stuart-Nicolson said: “It’s quite appalling that Sainsbury’s should be told to take down their signs.
“It’s a very positive thing to have Sainsbury’s back here and they have done everything they can, such as the Welcome to Bognor Regis sign on their store’s frontage, to fit in to the area.
“The signs are commensurate with the building and the area. They are not offensive or anything different to those they would put on their other stores.”
The two existing sky signs were installed weeks before the store opened last November 21 on the building’s south west and north east elevations.
A report by council planning officer Cian Cronin to the committee says the south west sign can be seen from some 450m away. The large size of the advertisement, combined with its prominent positioning and night-time illumination, means that it sits in an uncomfortable and jarring manner.
“Furthermore, when viewed at night the dominant effect of the large, brightly lit sign is amplified,” he says.
His verdict on the north east sign is equally damning: “The sign appears prominent and obtrusive on the building and given its location close to the carriageway, appears dominant and overbearing.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “The store signage is commercially important and will, we believe, help to lift the appearance of the building and the main route into Bognor.
“We believe the signage is appropriate for the building and its location on Shripney Road, which is a largely commercial area with no homes in close proximity.”
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