HOARDINGS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19176, 6 December 1927, Page 10

HOARDINGS.

EVERGREEN SUBJECT.

SIGN SPECIALIST'S PROTEST,

The apparently evergreen subject of hoardings again came before the City Council last night, but on this occasion there was very little discussion concerning the matter. The following letter was received from Mr H. Jacobs, described as a sign specialist "i wish to aciuiowledgo receipt or yours or tlie iStli, in wlucii you state that Uio mutter ot my.letter ana petition to tho council m respect t<j restrictions on tho sign-writing proression in regard to auvertisoments on walls and noaraings nail oeen placed DC!ore tno JJy-unvts Committee, when you wore instructed to mtorm mo t-nat the Council does not interfere with people advertising their own business on their own premises. •'"Writing on belialt of those whoso names were on the petition handed in to his W orsliip the Jiayor, some months ago, and to wnom this is a very serious matter indeed, 1 would respectfully ask that tho whole of my correspondence and petition bo placed before tno Council bocause of certain action having been taken by the By-laws Committee in respect to certain advertisements only that are appearing in tho City. "We consider the matter far too big and important to the commercial community to bo dealt with by the Bylaws Committee in the manner gathered from newspaper reports that such matters wore dealt with by that Committee. . . ,

"if the By-laws Committee insist upon artistic advertisements being removed from a wall because the advertisement does not happen to pertain to the business carried on there, am I not to gather from your letter that a very much inferior type of advertisement can be erected if the article advertised is pertaining to the business carried on?

"Surely tliis is too fine a distinction and one that must eventually operate to the detriment of painted advertisements, to the appearance of walls, and to the beauty of the City and to tho interests of tlie community. "Why should petrol or cigarette people have a monopoly on walls ?_ "There is hardly a shop building in town that does not stock either somo kind of petroleum product or some brand of cigarettes, and we feel that a monopoly should not be given to these people and that artistic advertisements pertaining to some local business or industry should not be penalised and ordered to be wiped _ out of existence to make room for cigarette or perol advertisements of, perhaps, a very inferior type, on such fine technical points as your letter suggests they might be." It was suggested that the matter be placed before the whole Council. The Mayor said that the matter had received careful attention from the Committee, but as Mr Jacobs wanted the matter to go before the Council it had been decided to agree to the request. Cr. E. H. Andrews moved that the matter be referred to the By-laws Committee for a report. This was seconded by Cr. E. R. McOombs and carried. AT BIRDLING'S FLAT.

Unsightly hoardings at Birdliug's Flat formed the subject of a complaint from the Wafrewa County Council, which was ventilated at last night's meeting of the Canterbury Automobile Association.

The letter drew attention to the by-law against unsightly hoardings and asked for the Association's co-opera-tion in getting them removed. The secretary (Mr J. S. Hawkes) stated that the hoardings were on railway property and under a railway contract.

Mr F. W. Johnston said that the S.I.M.U. had taken up the general matter of hoardings. The legislation in force was practically useless. Unless the hoarding was an "atrocious blot" on the landscape the law was unable to deal with it. Mr Falck: The Railway Department has worked with us in these matters and I think they would in this as far as possible. It was decided that the Association should take the matter up.