Protester's signs a 'safety hazard'

A Rotorua man with a grievance against an insurance company has been stopped from putting up protest signs along Te Ngae Rd because they could distract drivers.

Geoff Innes said he erected the signs because he felt ignored by Sovereign which provides personal and business life insurance, health insurance, home loan, investment and superannuation products.

The signs have been spread along the roadside.

Mr Innes put the signs up in protest over a personal claim. He said he felt like he had been ripped off, ignored and not given the chance to have his say. He didn't want to go into detail about his claim but said a staff member from the insurance company had spoken to him and he understood they would look into his claim and get back to him next week.

A Sovereign spokeswoman confirmed the company was looking into his case.

Rotorua District Council regulatory services manager Neven Hill said the council heard about the signs on Monday and they were contrary to council's Signs on Roads Bylaw. They removed four signs as there was no indication who they belonged to.

Yesterday, three new signs were put up and a council inspector had spoken to Mr Innes about the rules around signs on roads in Rotorua and the associated safety issues.

"Safety is the main focus of the rules and of the council's compliance activity," he said. "On the basis of the man's apology and his agreeing to remove the signs himself, the council is not taking any further action at this stage."

Mr Innes' first signs went up on Sunday afternoon, but had been removed by the council by Monday morning. He put more up on Monday but they were vandalised and the Sovereign name cut off. Mr Innes put up more signs yesterday, including some in trees, and waited to see what would happen. He said he took photos of a woman destroying them.

"It's my only chance to have a voice," he said.

After being told of the rules around signage on roadsides, Mr Innes said he wouldn't put any more up but would consider signwriting his truck if he continued to feel ignored.

"I apologised to the guy at the council," he said.

Sovereign corporate communications manager Emily Hana told The Daily Post the company learned about the signs on Monday morning.

At that time they didn't know who put them up and were trying to find out who had. The company wanted to "get to the bottom" of the grievance, she said.