Dardanup Shire approves 20m-high sign for service stations but rejects McDonald’s sign after grimacing debate

A South West council endured a slow-moving debate over whether to approve signage for two proposed service stations on the Bunbury Outer Ring Road. Shire of Dardanup councillors were asked on January 31 to approve a request for 20m-high pylons for both locations near Waterloo Road in Paradise along with 8m-high signs advertising the planned McDonald’s outlets. But it took several changes for elected members to come to an agreement, eventually voting unanimously to only approve the main pylons. Speaking after the meeting, shire president Tyrrell Gardiner said community feeling had come through with the debate. “It was a little bit of give a bit, get a bit, so we will see whether the proponents want to progress with the pylon or not,” he said. Council staff had initially recommended the main pylons be 12m tall, before Cr Gardiner sought to increase their height to 16m as a “middle ground” between the recommendation and the developer’s request. The amendment was lost after continued discontent with the McDonald’s signs, with deputy shire president Ellen Lilly successfully moving to increase the main pylons to 20m but not give approval to the fast food chain’s sign. She told the meeting the additional signage was not ideal for the community. “It is on the doorstep of Burekup, people live in rural areas to get away from that type of advertising and I don’t think it’s necessary,” Cr Lilly said. Cr Taneta Bell said she believed McDonald’s would have sufficient signage on the main pylons. “There’s an excessive proliferation of signage if we do have the two (signs) so I’m against the standalone McDonald’s sign and that’s regardless of the amenity (in the location) being changed by the BORR, the service stations and the planned industrial area,” she said. Council’s decision will see the pylons be the same height as those at BP and Ampol’s service stations on the Forrest Highway. Approval for the signs has been done separately to the service station buildings, which has already been given the green light by the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel.