Western Port
Features inside
Western Port’s
HISTORY
PAGE 34
No. 1
FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT
PAGES 38–40
newspaper
WESTERN PORT SCOREBOARD
PAGES 43–45
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16 October – 22 October 2012
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‘Profane’ number feud By Mike Hast THE owners of a factory on a main road in Hastings are trying to get one of their tenants to remove what the owners say is an offensive sign. Part of the sign for LDB Roofing Construction Pty Ltd is a 1300 phone number on the front of the factory at 2135 Frankston-Flinders Rd. The 24/7 phone number for the firm -- which advertises itself as an agricultural maintenance, service and spare parts outlet for the commercial poultry industry -- is 1300 OH SHIT, which translates to 1300 64 7448. LDB moved in to the factory earlier this year and had the phone number on an A-board out the front. The sign above the factory roller door went up in August. The factory is less conspicuous than premises facing FrankstonFlinders Rd in other parts of Hastings because it is on a service road that has a wide verge containing trees. Owners of the factory complex, Ev and Alan Duke, say they have tried every avenue to get the number removed including asking the tenant directly, the estate agent who handled the lease, and Mornington Peninsula Shire. The Dukes run A&A Worm Farm Waste Systems from another factory in the complex. Ms Duke said the tenant refused to alter or remove the sign. “Satchwells said it was not a retail premise and they couldn’t help,” Ms Duke said. “The shire council says it has no jurisdiction.” Ms Duke said a clause in the lease they signed earlier this year with LDB says a tenant must consult with the building owner over signs, but it had been no help.
The Dukes have been running A&A Worm Farm for more than 16 years, initially in Wantirna South. They have been on the peninsula for 12 years and supply and install worm farm systems for domestic and commercial food waste. A spokeswoman for LDB, Belinda Raulli, said the firm had fully researched the legality of the number. “It is registered with My1300, which made sure there were no objections,” she said. “It is also registered with Optus.” Ms Raulli said the Advertising Standards Bureau had “legalised” the word when dismissing a bad language complaint against Commercial Radio Australia’s digital radio campaign. The complaint related to the “Quality Shhh” advertisement. It portrays a series of announcements about the weather that are distorted by radio static due to poor reception. On a couple of occasions the announcer says the word “sh...” when referring to bad weather. Ms Raulli said LDB had asked its customers if the phone number offended them and none had objected. “Our customers have no trouble remembering our phone number. In the poultry industry, a breakdown of equipment can cost $10,000 a time. “We have offered to vacant the property three times, but the Dukes have not taken up our offer.” On Friday, Sarah Law of Western Port Chamber of Commerce said the chamber was “saddened that profane wording is being used in a visibly public place”. “We’re concerned that it could reflect an image of our community which isn’t true; it’s not the type of signage we would want visitors to see when driving into Hastings.”
Sigh over sign: A cyclist passes the LDB Roofing Construction building in a service road of Frankston-Flinders Rd in Hastings. A feud between the building’s owner and the tenant has erupted over the 1300 phone number. Picture: Yanni
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