Candidates running for a spot at the table in the City of Launceston’s upcoming elections could have their signs taken down by the council if they do not start complying with regulations.
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Local government election signs are regulated by individual planning schemes, and the signs code in the Launceston Interim Planning Scheme allows for one election sign per property without requiring a permit.
This means one sign is permitted per property, not one sign per candidate per property.
Candidates have already been given notice that non compliant signs needed to be rectified by October 12, the council’s acting general manager Leanne Hurst said.
“The council wrote to all candidates when the nominations were announced, indicating that the correspondence constituted the first step in the enforcement process. That is, notice of intention to take enforcement action after 14 days because a number of non-compliance issues had already been reported,” she said.
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Any candidate in breach after October 12 will have their non-complying signs removed. The council will also retain the right to issue infringement notices.
At the September 24 council meeting, candidate Basil Fitch asked the council, during public question time, if two signs were allowed to be erected on the same property. Mayor Albert van Zetten said it was not permitted and breaches would be followed up.
While anonymous complaints are not permitted, complainant details are not made public and complaints must be in writing.
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