Westmeath’s Council ‘stricter’ on roadside ads ban than any other areas

Business people in Westmeath trying to advertise their products or services are getting treated with a heavier hand than those in other parts of the country, Cllr. Paul Daly has claimed this week.At a meeting of the Kilbeggan Area Members of Westmeath County Council, Cllr. Daly proposed that the Council allow “a certain number” of appropriate advertisements on private properties along the motorways.The written response to Cllr. Daly’s motion was that the Council’s policy on roadside advertisements is dictated by Department and National Roads Authority guidelines and that these require that advertising signs not be allowed “within the national road reserve or at locations on private land visible from the road except where a speed limit of 50 km/hr or less applies”.“In this connection, the proposal contained in the motion to allow signage on certain privately owned lands adjoining the motorway would not meet with favourable consideration,” the response to Cllr. Daly concluded.“I knew what the answer to this would be before I asked it, but can we ask the Department to make a change?” Cllr. Daly said.He said in his view, the County Councils in Galway and Roscommon don’t enforce the regulations to the same degree as Westmeath County Council does.“I can appreciate the position of people in towns that have been by-passed, who are being hit not only by the recession, but also by the drop in passing traffic,” he said.“I’m not asking for ‘willy nilly’ free gratis signage, but there could be guidelines drawn up,” he said.Barry Kehoe, the Council’s Director of Services for the Kilbeggan Area agreed that the issue was a difficult one, and said that it is one that is raised regularly before every county council in the country, but he held out no hope of change on the current stance.“It’s open to anybody to apply for planning permission for any development they want to carry out on their land, but we can say with 95 per cent certainty they’re unlikely to get permission for any signage visible from the motorway: it’s just not compatible with national or local policy,” he continued, stating that if signs were allowed, “the vista of the countryside would be destroyed”.Proposing a compromise solution, he said it would be possible for the County Council to make sure that towns or villages that have been bypassed have signage indicating the range of services available in them.He added that businesses can still use “the normal modes of advertising” to promote their businesses.“Once you start allowing signage, you cannot close it down,” he said.“I’m not looking for willy nilly signage,” reiterated Cllr. Daly. “I’m looking for guidelines and an appropriate amount of signage.”Cllr. Colm Arthur said he had made a similar call last September.“My point back then was we were first out of the blocks: we’re going by the Department guidelines and the National Roads Authority and the law,” he said, adding that Councillors shouldn’t allow businesses point the finger at County Councils, and that they should differentiate between what the County Council allows and what the Department allows.“It’s down to Government policy and rules and laws and that is where the change has to be made if it’s to be made at all,” he said.Committee chairman, Cllr. Ger Corcoran said he was at a meeting at the NRA and was told that such signs were “distractions to drivers”.“I said there are a lot of statues and sculptures that could distract drivers as well,” he said, adding that he agreed with Cllr. Daly’s call, and felt there should be a national debate on the subject.“There should be some way that businesses should - subject to guidelines - be able to advertise. It seems the NRA have a hold on ,” he said.