Don’t write off our village signs

Edna Dixon

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Edna Dixon looks at the neatly-framed sign offering a range of dishes at her delightful cafe in the heart of Delph and says: “We’ve got to encourage tourists here.”

The sprightly 65-year-old has run the Cosy Cafe at Saddleworth Crafts Co-operative for 15 years.

But, she says: “Many first-time customers who drop in for a meal or a cuppa have no idea where they are. If we didn’t have signs up I don’t know what we would do.”

A week ago, just a few hundred yards away, Jude Lever, landlady of the White Lion and her partner, Dave Palmer, were ordered by Oldham Council to remove two four-foot square blackboards from the exterior walls of the pub.

The couple, who took over 11 months ago, used the boards to advertise food and drink but, because they had not applied for planning permission to erect them on a conservation building, the council ordered their removal.

Edna leapt to their defence. “Our village is having a struggle and visitors really boost the local economy. We don’t, for example, have any signs to let people know they are actually in Delph.”

Internationally-famous artist John McCoombs, who has a studio at the craft co-operative, said: “We should be doing more to encourage people to visit here.

“Uppermill gets everything and has signs all over the place. It is just not fair to business or locals living here.”

Ghost town

And Denise Wildes, the village baker, said: “I am worried Delph could turn into a ghost town. Having signs up is the only tangible way to let visitors know we are here and what we do.”

But local parish councillor Ken Hulme, an executive member of the village community association working on new signage initiatives to put the village on the map, argues planners were right to order the pub signs removal.

“Landscape, green belt, conservation areas and listed buildings help preserve the unique character of villages like Delph and attract visitors,” he declared.

“That’s why it’s important to protect these and why publicans and brewers can’t be exempt from their legal requirements under planning law.

“However, sensible compromises can be reached and brewers know only too well their legal obligations owning a listed building in a conservation area.”

But, as a counterpoint, David Makin, chairman of 180-strong Saddleworth Civic Trust, said: “Fifty pubs a week are going out of business and its unfortunate obstacles are put in the way of any carrying on.

“The White Lion seems to be a very minor issue in environmental terms. Black-and-white signs in unobtrusive placings are not a blot on the landscape.

“This seems a typical case, beloved of bureaucrats, imposing the letter of the law as opposed to working in the spirit of it. Where has common sense gone?”

“If the White Lion is driven out of business it would be a prime development site for housing - do the council, developers or some residents want that?”

Meanwhile, locals at the White Lion are supporting the inn’s management. Said Dave Palmer: “They are puzzled by the council’s decision.

“Accepting the pub is in a conservation area, and we didn’t apply for planning permission first, the signs did not harm or cause any obstruction.”