Tourist-town shops say order to remove 'unsafe' road signs bad for business

Businesses in one of Western Australia's most popular holiday towns say an order to remove signs directing visitors to local shops and cafes could deter tourists and damage the region's booming economy.

Tens of thousands of people travel through the town of Denmark on WA's south coast each year to visit lush forests, pristine beaches and sample produce.

A letter sent to some businesses by the Shire of Denmark, telling them to remove unauthorised signs, has raised concerns they will miss out on tourist trade.

The shire warned the businesses that they had 28 days to remove signs that "may not" comply with its policy or face possible "enforcement action".

Brendan Laing is one of several hospitality operators who had received the letter that the ABC spoke to.

He said he had been advertising along the South Coast Highway for several years without incident, until he received one of the letters.

"The signs are quite important to show that we're open and hours of trading," said Mr Laing, who runs a cafe and leather shop about 15 kilometres west of Denmark on his family beef farm.

Removing the sign that directs traffic from the highway to his cafe would hurt business, he said.

"Given the fact we're not in town and don't have any foot traffic out here, we need to capture people when we can, and it definitely helps our business."

Mr Laing, who employs about half a dozen people across three hospitality businesses, said tourism had become one of the major industries in Denmark, but one that did not always appear to have the shire's support.

"I think they seem to be ... nearly working against us in some ways, dealing with tourists," he said.

Tourist surge

Denmark and surrounding towns have experienced a significant rise in tourist numbers in recent years, sparking debate among residents about overtourism.

Shire President Aaron Wiggins said the order to remove signage was related to safety concerns raised by the state road utility, Main Roads.

"They're in high-speed, high-traffic areas right on the roads and around corners," he said.

"It's a huge safety issue, and we're not going to hide from that.

"If there's a safety issue, especially with the state of the road toll in regional Western Australia, we're going to act."

'Never acceptable'

Mr Wiggins said the shire could have communicated the issue better to affected businesses, but stood by its decision.

"The ones we're talking about are unsafe signs right on what is still considered the road area," he said.

"That's never going to be acceptable"

Mr Wiggins said the shire was in the process of updating its "very old" signage policy and was open to consulting with industry and residents.

After some of their signs were confiscated several years ago, winery owners David Britten and Melissa Boughey said they had made an effort to put them in safer locations.

"We have worked with [Main Roads Guidance] to not have anything dangerous on the road, to not get in the way of safety or pullover areas … we've been very thoughtful about that," Ms Boughey said.

While the winery did not receive a letter, Ms Boughey said that any new policy needed to help tourism and hospitality businesses capitalise on visitors to the region.

"They probably don't quite understand the significance the correct type of signage in an area makes to a small business," she said.

"The signage at the moment is pre-emptive, so it just shows that the turn-off is coming up in a kilometre or something.

"If that wasn't happening, we're at a 90-kilometre-an-hour area, so people would just whiz by and not notice."

Main Roads said the signage was a matter for the shire.

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