A CARD company has been allowed to keep its illuminated sign despite concerns about it being too “tacky” for Barnard Castle's historic high street.
There are fears that giving permission to The Card Factory will lead to more lit-up shop signs, with one objector telling county planners: “This is Barnard Castle, not Blackpool Castle.”
The company, which was founded in Wakefield and has more than 1,000 stores, opened the shop this spring and applied for retrospective permission for the illuminated sign in Horsemarket – a conservation area.
The county council approved the application on May 26 without any say from the authority's conservation team.
Barnard Castle Town Council's planning committee originally did not object but last week admitted this was a mistake because members did not realise the sign would be illuminated.
Committee chairman Cllr Paul Ing said: “We didn’t pick that up and that’s my mistake.
“But we need to put it on the record that we made an error, and if we had been aware it was an illuminated sign, the consideration would have been to oppose it. But whether that would have made any difference, I’m not sure.”
Mayor Cllr Laura Drew said: “I have had a couple of complaints about the sign. The fact that it is an illuminated sign seems to have slipped through.”
Cllr Mike McLean added: “There is a feeling in town that these signs should not be illuminated because it’s not in keeping with the historic town.”
The meeting heard that the sign will be turned off when the shop closes at 5pm.
Cllr Drew said this meant there would be only a short period of time in winter when it would be dark enough to be lit brightly. However, Cllr Ing said there was a risk other businesses would follow suit.
He said: “A pizza shop could put up a big illuminated sign and it could all end up looking like Southend.”
Councillors asked why the conservation team at County Hall was not given a say on the matter. Cllr Drew said: “They are normally really hot on these things. They won’t let you put up a different coloured slate on your roof sometimes.”
A number of residents also protested to the sign.
One person wrote: “We would strongly like to object to the illuminated strip lighting – it is not in keeping with the historic aspect of the town. This is Barnard Castle, not Blackpool Castle. It really cheapens the high street.”
Another described it as “tacky” and “unnecessary”.
Ros Evans, from Newgate, said: “This is a retrospective application, and the sign illumination is totally out of place in the historic townscape. I believe that other commercial premises have been refused illuminated signs because of the conservation area and other townscape considerations.”
In approving the application, the county council noted “with concern that the work included in this application commenced prior to permission being granted. This practice is most inadvisable.”
The Card Factory was approached for a comment.
Stephen Reed, planning development manager at Durham County Council, said: “The council’s design and conservation team was properly consulted on the application and raised no objections to the proposal. Due to an administrative oversight, the design and conservation team’s response was not initially publicly displayed on the council’s planning portal but that has now been rectified.”
The department said: “this is external illumination through a through light, which is a similar approach to others throughout the conservation area.”
