Clampdown on auctioneers' signs criticised

Councillors in Leitrim claim a clampdown on unauthorised auctioneers' signs on roadsides in the country is making it more difficult to sell property.

Officials have seized a number of unlicensed signs and are charging auctioneers €30 for the return of each one.

Cllr John McTernan (Fine Gael) said the planning laws had gone too far and claimed that a number of auctioneers had complained this was not happening in neighbouring counties.

Councillors say the strict regime is penalising people attempting to sell property in a county which is trying to boost its population.

The population of Leitrim grew at the last census for the first time since the Famine, but at 25,000 it is still the smallest in the country.

Under the Planning and Development Act "advertisement structures" can only be placed along a public road if the local planning authority grants a licence. Anyone placing signs on the roadside must pay an average licensing fee of €25, which rises in accordance with the size of the structure.

The council insists that before seizing signs it gave two weeks' notice in the local media and, while many people reacted to this warning, "unfortunately many did not".

Cllr Martin Kenny (Sinn Féin) supported the stance of officials, saying there were so many auctioneers' signs at some locations that it was impossible to see the road signs.