Council Orders Removal of Cafe’s Orange Signs

A local council has mandated the removal of a cafe’s prominent orange signs, asserting that they have caused significant harm to the surrounding area. Dash!, located at the junction of Broadway West in Leigh, Essex, has been granted a six-month period to take down the signs, which were erected without the necessary planning permission. The development control committee of Southend-on-Sea City Council unanimously voted in favor of enforcement action, following concerns about the signs on the cafe, which is situated within a designated conservation area, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Dash! had submitted applications to modify its signs in December 2022 and July 2023, both of which were rejected. The cafe subsequently appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in February 2024, but this appeal was also dismissed. Richard Longstaff, a Green Party councillor for Leigh ward, stated that the cafe occupies “an incredibly busy junction and a focal point for the street scene.” He added, “While I’m guilty of my daughter stopping for an ice cream at the hatch, it just seems to be in the way of everybody.” Longstaff further commented, “It’s a busy zebra crossing. There are people with pushchairs. It just seems incongruous and impractical to have people queuing at that hatch. It’s like Piccadilly Circus.” He emphasized the importance of maintaining conservation areas, saying, “We do need to maintain our conservation areas. If we don’t enforce that it’s just a slow creep, and all of a sudden we’ve lost the character of a place.” Carol Mulroney, a Liberal Democrat councillor also representing Leigh ward, remarked that the establishment is positioned at a “really important point of the conservation area.” She also noted that the awnings had made a “tremendous” difference. The planning applications that were declined by the council included proposals to install a new shopfront, and separately, to retain its existing metal shopfront and awnings while adding various moulded timber panels.