A WELCOME sign on an entrance to Wotton-under-Edge had to be taken down due to planning and advertising regulations – causing uproar from within the community. 

The sign, which encourages people to visit the town, was first put up on the corner of Church Street in July.

It covered an ugly plywood board that had been there for 11 years and was welcomed by both residents and traders.

But Stroud District Council ordered the removal of the sign as it had been placed on a listed building, and it was taken down last Wednesday.

Since then, an online petition calling on the council to bring back the welcome sign has amassed nearly 1,000 signatures.

The original idea for the sign came from managing director of Clarendon Press Peter Roberts.

He had been passing through the area for years, saying its rundown appearance made it look like “downtown Beirut”, and he was struck with a “eureka moment” to put up the sign to make it look better.

Painted by local artist Linda Downes, printed by Mr Roberts and facilitated by the Chamber of Trade and Commerce, the sign was placed on the corner of the building with the consent of its owner.

“It was a fantastic way of welcoming people to our fantastic market town,” said Andrew Starling, landlord of The Falcon Steakhouse, further up the road in Church Street.

“People in the town loved it and our customers always mentioned how much nicer it was than the plywood that had been there for the past 11 years.”


The group behind the sign were forced to take it down on after the council said that both advertising consent and planning permission were needed due to its position on a listed building. 

They have now begun campaigning to “save the sign”, urging SDC to look favourably upon any submitted planning application.

The campaign includes an online petition that has amassed about 900 signatures in less than a week.

President of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Alex Wilkinson, said: “On behalf the town’s people of Wotton, we will be submitting an application [to have the sign back up].

“I would like to appeal to Stroud District Council’s planners to look empathetically on any application we submit based on what was in the sign’s place before. It was chipboard for 11 years and it just looked disgusting. 

“We’re only in it for one thing and that’s making our town look better and bringing people in to use some of our struggling local businesses.” 

A spokesman for the council said: “The ‘Welcome to Wotton’ sign was placed on a house that is a listed building in a conservation area, which, because of its status and location, is therefore subject to stringent controls. 

“A group of residents put up the sign on a plywood board without applying to Stroud District Council for permission.

They were advised by us that retrospective consent was unlikely to be granted, because it is listed, and so the society took it down.

If they want to put the sign back up they are entitled to still make the applications in accordance with the law as others do.”

Sign the petition at change.org/p/stroud-district-council-bring-back-wotton-s-welcome-sign