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Cone king threatens to quit over sign


Erik Sine

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Cone king threatens to quit over sign

A COLD war has broken out after an Innerleithen ice cream man is ordered to remove his illuminated sign.

Published: Friday, 15th January, 2010 11:31am

icecream.jpg

Planning officers ruled last year that shopkeeper, Andrew Caldwell, had contravened planning regulations by mounting a new sign above his parlour.

But the cone king, whose family shop has stood in Innerleithen High Street for 99 years, fought back by taking his case to the Scottish Government.

But Government Reporter Douglas Alexander this week sided with planning chiefs and dismissed his retrospective planning appeal.

Mr Caldwell is still refusing to be cowed though and has stated that if council workmen attempt to remove the £7,000 sign, he'll sell up and close the iconic business.

He said: "I'm shattered by this decision. I didn't know I needed permission until someone from the council came into the shop and told me after it was up.

"The Co-op just up the road has two even bigger illuminated signs and they've had no hassle at all. My grandfather began this business and it will kill me if the council come along and make me take the sign down then a For Sale one will be going up."

Mr Alexander visited the site, after which he considered the sign to have a 'garish and incongrous appearance that is completely at odds with the building's attractive stone frontage'.

And in conclusion he said: "Consequently it does not preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area or the integrity and setting of the listed building opposite."

However Mr Caldwell believes the whole affair to have been a charade for his benefit.

He said: "How can anyone judge an illuminated sign at 10 o'clock in the morning? We weren't allowed to explain our case at all."

Mr Caldwell is at present gathering hundreds of local signatures and intends to deliver his petition to council headquarters at Newtown St Boswells.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. - Winston Churchill

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Whether one agrees with special guidelines or codes for certain areas - it seems to me the sign manufacturer should have known what was or wasn't allowed, prior to taking a deposit for the sign. If he told them "put it up anyway" then it's on him, and hopefully they had him sign a waiver to that effect.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Whether one agrees with special guidelines or codes for certain areas - it seems to me the sign manufacturer should have known what was or wasn't allowed, prior to taking a deposit for the sign. If he told them "put it up anyway" then it's on him, and hopefully they had him sign a waiver to that effect.

Unfortunately, some sign companies could care less about code or informing the customer accurately. They got the job and the money (I'm assuming they did), no there's no penalty for them. I also cringe at the owner's comments that he didn't know he needed permission and another biz up the street has two, bigger illuminated signs. It's your business and your a$$, so do a little research and take ownership!

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  • 3 months later...

I agree with YYZ, the sign company that sold and manufactured the sign should have advised the owner of any codes or guidelines; and yes if the owner said put it up anyway - then it is on him. There are absolutely too many sign companies out there with no ethics what-so-ever - just tearing down the craft/skill/trade pride some of us have in the signs we design and manufacture.

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