West Ealing Residents Relieved Their Green is Not for Sale
Concerns raised after estate agent posts sign on open space
Sargeant's sale board on Cavendish Avenue. picture: Ian O'Sullivan
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Residents of Cavendish Avenue in West Ealing were very concerned to wake up one morning to find out that their cherished piece of green space was apparently up for sale.
Estate agents Sargeants placed a sign on the crescent shaped park area on the road near to the letter box this July. As it was not near a property, it initially caused some consternation on the road.
Local resident Ian O’Sullivan contacted us about the sign saying, “We were wondering whether there may be plans afoot to sell it to a developer to build on. Wouldn't be surprising given the level of building going on in the borough these days.”
We contacted Sargeants and they assured us they were selling a nearby house and there was no risk of a building project in the area, promising to move the sign.
Two months later, Mr O’Sullivan contacted us again to say the sign remained in place so we contacted Sargeants once more. They told us the person who had pledged to have the sign removed had left and it was their intention to leave it there because as the property they are currently marketing on the road is “tucked round the corner this is the only visible place we can market the board”.
We asked another local estate agent about this case and, while she asked not to be named, she told us, “This sign is definitely illegal and I’m surprised they have got away with it for so long. We have to admit as an industry that we are not particularly good at adhering to the regulations on the positioning of signs. Our firm tries to adhere to the spirit of the rules but sometimes the letter of the law can be difficult to follow, for instance the requirement of boards from competing agents to be back-to-back. However, we would never dream of such an egregious flouting of the regulations as appears to be happening in this case. It seems to me to be a thoroughly counter-productive way to operate.”
According to the law, the estate agent boards should only be displayed inside the boundaries of the property and should not be positioned anywhere else.
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October 6, 2022
