Cake firm sign prompts demand for planning permission after 19 years

Aug 26 2010 by Alastair McNeill, Hamilton Advertiser

AN Uddingston businessman has described as “extortion” a council demand that he apply for planning permission for a sign which he says has been there for almost 20 years.

Michael Burns, who owns Special Days cakes, said it was the first time he has been informed by the authority that the sign on the gable end of his Main Street premises required planning approval.

A letter dated August 10, following one which he received in December last year, warned him that he faces formal enforcement proceedings if he does not comply.

The 42-year-old has spoken to other businesses in the area with signs outside their premises who have not received similar communications and were unaware that planning permission was necessary.

He said this week: “I feel the council are acting in a high-handed manner.

“An official has told me that anyone who has a shop sign has to apply for planning permission. It’s the first I have known about it and I have been here 19 years.

“I have asked other businesses in the village with signs and they haven’t been contacted by the council.

“I don’t see why I have to fork out £175 every five years to apply for planning permission. I feel I’m being singled out by the council.”

Mr Burns, who employs three assistants, added that the demand was an additional cost in a difficult economic climate.

He said: “We have to fight hard for every single order at the moment. This is a bill we can well do without.”

However, a South Lanarkshire spokesman said this week they were following standard procedure.

She added: “On receipt of a complaint from a member of the public, the planning service looked into this matter.

“We found that no consent had ever been requested or issued for a sign at this location. Advertisement consent is required and Mr Burns was contacted earlier this year and the position explained to him. To date, no application has yet been submitted.

“Whilst we accept that there has been a sign at this location for a number of years, it is understood that the current one is new and was erected within the last year.

“Mr Burns is in no way being singled out. The council is simply following standard planning protocol.”