AN UNAUTHORISED advertising board in Worting will be removed after councillors unanimously voted to take “direct action” against the company which erected it.

The offending billboard has been set up at the junction of Roman Road and Worting Road since October 2018.

In January 2019, council officers rejected the application made for advertising consent on the grounds that the board “would have a harmful impact on the character and visual amenity of the character of the area”.

Despite this, the Billboard Media branded board has not been removed, and council officers claim that attempts to seek voluntary removal, in compliance with requirements, have been unsuccessful.

Council documents state that “no appeals have been lodged”.

They add: “No attempts have been made, by the applicant or advertiser, to comply with the council’s request. In addition, it is noted that the applicant did not obtain permission to erect the signage on highway land and is therefore benefitting from an income derived illegally.”

Council officer Mike Townsend presented the council’s recommendation to the Development Control Committee on Wednesday (February 10), asking members to grant authority to “take direct action, to secure the removal of the unauthorised signage and ancillary paraphernalia".

This was unanimously approved, with Cllr Andy McCormick, leader of the Labour group, stating he was “emphatically for” the motion.

Speaking to the Gazette after the meeting, Cllr McCormick added: “It is something we have had various residents complaining about. It has taken a long time to get planning enforcement.”

When asked why this board in particular was an issue, he added: “People get a bit protective about things, and particularly [in areas] where there has been a lot of other things about development.

“We had people popping up on Facebook, taking umbrage at someone just rocking up and doing it. Hopefully, this brings an end to the matter.”

A spokesperson for Billboard Media said: “We sent correspondence to the local authority over the last couple of weeks with no reply.

“Billboard Media are the selling agents for the location only, and have directed the local authority to the owners of the billboard on several occasions. We understand that there is an appeal in progress with the Planning Inspectorate and cannot comment on this any further.”