Developer, Pearl Investments, has submitted to Council an Operational Works Plan (OPW26/0055) for signage for its service station, currently under construction in the heart of Yandina. The signage proposal appears to be based on a presumption that this ‘Servo’ is located on a large area of flat land adjoining a major highway. In fact, it is in the town’s Heritage/Character Area, tucked into the northwest corner of the Farrell-Stevens Street intersection where a bend in the road, downhill gradient and street trees limit visibility if approached from the south or east. Even a pylon sign twice the proposed 6 metre height would not be visible until a vehicle is nearly level with the site. On the northern approach, a low, 2 metre sign would be more in a driver’s line of vision and in keeping with the key standard for Heritage/Character signage. Signs should not be higher than surrounding buildings. Larger signs may require a professional streetscape or landscape analysis to ensure they do not detract from the area’s visual amenity.
Marie Reeve, president of the Yandina & Districts Community Association (YADCA), says that the pylon sign does not meet the planning code in relation to height, setback or surface area, being 6 metres high, 1 metre from the boundary, with a surface area of 10.2m2. According to the current Planning Scheme (2014), the pylon sign is too big and too close to the footpath even for a standard setting BUT this sign is in a Character Area with a Heritage Overlay. It would dominate the streetscape, overshadowing the restored Feed Barn next door. Furthermore, the Operational Works application failed to heed the Planning and Environment Court’s condition that required the applicant to “submit and have endorsed by Council, a detailed Advertising Signage Strategy that considers the site’s location as identified within the Character Area and on a Scenic Route”. Council has an obligation to insist that the signage be custom designed to complement the heritage and character of its location.
The applicant compares its sign to that of the BP further down Farrell Street however the BP service station is not located in the Character Area of town. Marie Reeve explains that the BP sign is an anachronism, dating back to a time when the highway went through town and there were no street trees to block a driver’s view. In a low-speed environment, large signs are not necessary.
Yandina has ended up a victim of poorly conceived land usage criteria in the 2014 Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme, and the community is entrusting Council to minimize the negative consequences of that failure. YADCA hopes that the new Planning Scheme Codes have the necessary provisions and restrictions to ensure this Yandina service station will be the last time that the Sunshine Coast Regional Council or the Planning and Environment Court can legally approve a service station in the heart of a heritage and character area of historic towns like Yandina.
