Christmas parade sign removed
THE grinch might have stolen Christmas but according to Rainbow Beach Lions Club president Rex Bright, the Department of Transport and Main Roads has stolen the Christmas spirit.
Mr Bright said a large banner advertising the club’s annual Christmas Parade and Carols by Candlelight put up at a picnic area on the corner of Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach Roads was chopped down by the department despite appeals by the club, the council and Gympie MP David Gibson that it should stay.
There appears to be inconsistencies as to which signs stay and which go, Mr Bright said, adding members were devastated by “the blatant disregard of community spirit”.
The Lions Club of Rainbow Beach obtained permission from the Gympie Regional Council for all manner of permits and specifically sought permission to hang two large banners advertising the fundraising event. The banners were both hung on December 1, one at the picnic area built and maintained by the GRC.
“On previous occasions, events such as the Tin Can Bay Seafood Festival have hung their banner in the same location,” Mr Bright said.
“There were no complaints or any threats to take that banner down, nor has it ever disappeared.”
Mr Bright said the first they were aware that it was under Main Roads’ jurisdiction was when they were notified by a phone call from the department that the sign had to be removed.
“We appealed to them to wait two days,” he said. “There were no visibility problems and the council tried to back us up, but on Thursday it disappeared.”
As it was, with committee members working or not physically able to pull the banner down on their own, there was no one available to remove it when it was requested by the Main Roads, said long-standing Lion’s Club member Murray Johnston.
“This is bureaucracy gone made,” he said. “We’re all pretty shattered,” Angela Bright said. “Everyone else puts their banners there.
“We don’t have many ways of raising funds for the community, this is one of the big things we do.”
A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesperson told The Gympie Times yesterday the large banner was removed because of safety concerns.
“Roadside advertising signs are a potential distraction to motorists and are generally not permitted on road reserves on state-controlled roads,” the MR spokesperson said. “The sign located at the intersection was large and close to the road alignment and so presented a safety concern.”
Prior to the sign’s removal, the department said they advised representatives of the Lions Club of the safety and legal concerns and requested the sign’s removal.
They added the sign was recoverable from the department’s office in Gympie and they would be “happy to discuss alternative locations with the Lions Club”.
Under the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994, it is an offence to install signs in the state-controlled road reserve without approval from the department, who has the authority to modify, relocate or remove signs located within the state-controlled road reserve. Removal of illegal advertising signs is currently occurring on state-controlled roads in the Wide Bay Region, the MR spokesperson said.
