Credit: Sasun Bughdaryan via Unsplash
Gawk Outdoor has beaten Coffs Harbour City Council in court after the council tried to stop the company building a big digital billboard facing the Pacific Highway, AdNews can report.
Regional DOOH, a joint venture between Gawk and Sports and Outdoor, brought the appeal after its development proposal was rejected by council.
The NSW Land and Environment Court sided with the out-of-home operator, reversing the council's refusal of the development application for the sign at Ray McCarthy Drive.
The billboard is a Super 8 format, measuring 8.3 metres by 2.2 metres, and replaces an existing sign.
It is designed to catch northbound traffic on the highway, with ads changing every 10 seconds.
The digital billboard will be the first approved in Coffs Harbour to allow ads to run on a regular rotation. oOh!media has the city's only other digital billboard, with a 24-hour display time for each ad.
Coffs Harbour Council knocked back the application, arguing the sign was too big and out of step with the area.
The council leaned on its own planning rules, which only allow signage advertising the business actually operating on a site, a rule that effectively shuts out roadside billboard companies altogether.
Gawk challenged the rule, arguing that it was inconsistent with state planning policy which allows standalone advertising signs in the industrial zone where the site sits.
The court agreed, finding the council's restriction conflicted with the planning rules and couldn't be enforced.
In an added twist, the council is already seeking to change its planning rules to prohibit third-party advertising in the industrial zone, although the court gave the draft changes little weight in deciding this application.
The two sides also clashed over whether the billboard would add clutter to the strip.
The council argued the area was dominated by simple business signage and a large illuminated third-party ad would stick out.
Gawk’s side pointed to existing signs for car and equipment brands already lining the same stretch, arguing third-party advertising was already part of the streetscape.
The court agreed with Gawk's position.
The council also wanted to extend the overnight curfew from 12am–4am to 11pm–6am. The court rejected that change, retaining the original curfew.
The sign will run under a 15-year approval, with brightness capped under Transport for NSW outdoor advertising guidelines and a safety check due within the first 18 months.
Gawk Outdoor director James Course said the company was thrilled with the result.
"We are hugely excited about this win, having learned the hard way how expensive these appeals are in NSW. It is a shame that a large sum of ratepayers' money was spent fighting something that had support from the local business community,” he told AdNews.
“We could not be more excited to get this up in time for summer. In the meantime the inappropriate big banana jokes are prominent around the Gawk office.”
A Coffs Harbour City Council spokesperson told AdNews the council acknowledged the Court's decision and was reviewing the judgment.
"The City has finalised a planning proposal to prohibit third-party advertising structures across the local government area and understands the associated amendment to its planning controls is expected to take effect shortly," the spokesperson said.
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