A decision by Wangaratta Council to refuse the construction of an electronic advertising billboard on Tone Road has been overruled by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
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The council previously refused an application to build a large billboard that came under the category of a "major promotional sign", then again refused another revised plan to make the sign much smaller.
But VCAT member Susan Whitney recently gave the green light for Citizen Outdoor to construct the smaller sign.
The billboard will be eight metres by 2.2 metres and stand 2.8 metres above the ground, which is lower and 35 per cent smaller than the previously refused plans.
It will be located east of the Tone Road and Sisley Avenue intersection, facing traffic heading towards Wangaratta's CBD.
Each advertisement on the billboard will remain for 30 seconds, with no moving images.
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Wangaratta Council had fought the appeal in VCAT, arguing the sign contrasted plans to develop Tone Road as the "western gateway" to the city.
"(The council argued) the approval of the proposed sign would jeopardise the future intent of creating a more desirable built form along this gateway," Ms Whitney said.
But she found the Tone Road site was not an official "gateway site" in the council's planning scheme, being outside the mapped area for the proposed "South Wangaratta urban renewal area".
She also said Regional Roads Victoria did not object to the sign being constructed as it did not pose any safety concerns for motorists.
"The subject land is not on a tourist road or a scenic route. I was not taken to anything in the scheme that identified the area as having particular heritage or landscape values," Ms Whitney said.
"The proposal is compatible with the existing character of the subject land and surrounding area, that being of a commercial (retail) area."
The subject land is not on a tourist road or a scenic route.
- VCAT member Susan Whitney
The billboard will be Wangaratta's first electronic sign.
The council had argued this meant the billboard was not "complimentary" to the landscape characteristics.
"Reading the policy in this way would mean that any electronic sign in any location in Wangaratta would not be acceptable because there are no other such signs in Wangaratta," Ms Whitney said.
"This should not be interpreted as what is meant by 'complimentary' or 'maintaining a degree of uniformity' because this would mean that the decision-maker has not assessed the proposal relative the site and surrounds, but rather, has dismissed it outright on the basis of it being electronic.
"There will be locations where an electronic promotion sign is not appropriate and not acceptable but these need to be assessed on a case by case basis."
