George Orwell summed up the feeling of local event organisers when he said, "All men are equal, but some are more equal than others" from his book Animal Farm.

Over the last two weeks, there was an inundation of The Circus signage all around Lismore, the majority of which were situated on fencing at roundabouts leading to safety concerns.

Yesterday, some had been taken down, but some were still on display, like the roundabout at Brewster/Magellan Street in the CBD and the Bruxner Highway/Holland Street roundabout in Goonellabah.

Apart from the safety concern, why does it matter?

Two local event organisers told the Lismore App that no signage can be displayed on roundabouts, but they have been told no signage at all can be displayed on council land.

Organiser 1 said, “We have put them up and told to take them down. We have even been threatened with a $3,000 fine the year before."

Organiser 2 was disgruntled that local businesses cannot display corflute signage to promote their events but it appears outsiders can.

"We have found out, they didn’t consult council. We were threatened with being fined and our signs confiscated. You're not supposed to hang them on council land without permission, but you can on private land or RMS land."

The local organisers feel it is double standards considering the signs had been up for two weeks before any action was taken.

A spokesperson for Lismore City Council said, "The placement of temporary advertising structures on Council-owned or managed land (public land including road corridors) requires the prior approval of Council. Council does not generally support the placement of temporary signage on public lands.

"State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 provides the opportunity for the placement of Community notice and temporary event signs without consent (Subdivisions 10 & 11), subject to compliance with the nominated development standards. These provisions of the planning policy applies to private lands, not public land."

"If signage is placed on public lands, Council’s Law Enforcement Team will request promoters to remove signage. If this request is not complied with, Council staff will remove the signage."

During some follow-up questions, the council spokesperson confirmed that the Circus did not seek permission from LCC.

The protocol is for council to notify the appropriate organisation to remove the signage, giving them four (4) days to do so. Council's Law Enforcement Team then removes the signs and impounds them, they then release the signs to the owner on payment of a fine as laid out in Council's Fees and Charges.

The 'unauthorised signage' fee for 2023/24 is $92.00. That doesn't tell you if the $92.00 is per sign or for the total number of signs. If it is for the total number of signs, that is the cheapest form of advertising any event organiser can get for two weeks of illegal and dangerous advertising. Hardly a disincentive to stop the practice in future years.

If the same organisation continues to flout council's rules, "This will be assessed in accordance with Council's Enforcement Policy."

The policy indicates that each breach will be classified as low, medium or high significance, with medium and high-significance breaches having the potential for a penalty notice to be served.

Council staff took longer than four days to remove the signage, "Due to limited resources. All work needs to be prioritised." Does this answer indicate that the signage indiscretion is treated as 'low significance'?

If local event organisers are being threatened with $3,000 fines then one would hope that NSW, Australian and International event organisers are also being threatened with the same kind of fine that would be enforced if it is continually being abused.

Does the Lismore App have a vested interest in the reinforcement of council's Enforcement Policies in this case? Yes, we do. Advertising is how we earn a living and pay our journalists to provide the community with daily local news. Like any locally owned family business, every dollar helps. There are other advertising mediums, not locally owned, but they do employ local people.

Importantly, local event organisers just want a level playing field so that all men and women are equal.