Tuesday 31 January 2006

From the Bankstown Canterbury Torch: "WALKING down Campsie's Beamish Street makes Keith Hughes angry."

I don't get angry walking down Beamish Street, I just enjoy the show. It's a cultural cauldron, a multicultural mish-mash, and a great place to live. I don't get "offended by the prevalence of commercial signage in languages other than English".

Strathfield Municipality, just north of here, has imposed signage regulations that require the English component of signs to be larger than those of other languages. But I don't really see Hughes' point. Last Saturday on the way back from the Happy Chef restaurant I took note of the signs and decided that there were very few that could cause offence to even a sensitive soul. I also decided that Hughes must be intensely unhappy in other areas of his life to take such great offence at the sight of Beamish Street shopfrontages, shingles and awnings.

No doubt Canterbury Municipal Council fervently hopes that Hughes would just disappear and never raise his voice again. The idea of putting restrictions on signage is not pleasant. For me, it's appealing, the plethora of linguistic symbols that dot the landscape. I'll keep an eye out for further developments.

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