An oriental restaurant in Colchester’s city centre had its application for new signs refused by planning bosses. 

Fai’s Oriental Restaurant, in St Botolph’s Street, applied for planning permission to replace the sign on the restaurant front with a newer LED sign. 

The proposal included a similar design to the current sign, with the addition of illuminating it. 

However, planning bosses at Colchester Council refused the application, saying it disagreed with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out guidelines for the design of advertisements, especially in conservation areas. 

The restaurant is located within one of Colchester’s conservation areas, which enjoy special protection and stricter rules around planning applications to protect the “areas of natural beauty or of special architectural or historic interest”. 

The council’s planning committee stated in its decision: “This proposed signage is located on a building within Colchester's Area 1 Conservation Area. 

“By virtue of the proposed signage, design, materials and illumination, the proposed signage would be a visually incongruous feature and would be harmful to public visual amenity, including the setting of the conservation and surrounding designated heritage assets.  

“They are therefore considered to be contrary to the NPPF, adopted Local Plan and adopted Supplementary Planning Document Shopfront Design Guide (2011).”