By Luke Voogt
Geelong council candidate Atamjit Singh has re-erected election campaign signage in Mount Duneed in defiance of an owners corporation that ordered its removal.
The Kardinia ward candidate re-erected the signs this week, after accusing property developer Villawood of “blocking” his “political expression” by removing them.
Mr Singh said Villawood staff “verbally” confirmed he could erect the signs with home owners’ permission before he initially put them up.
But last week he discovered the signs had been removed from his and friends’ and families’ homes “without permission or notice”.
“Those signs are my property,” he said.
“There is nothing wrong with people displaying election signs on their own property, and to come onto my property and take my own sign away is trespassing, in my opinion.
“Developers are not the council or the government and they shouldn’t police us like this.”
But Villawood Properties and Club Armstrong owners corporation denied they were blocking Mr Singh’s free speech, saying the signs breached corporation rules.
Mr Singh could communicate policies through letterbox drops and other means, a Club Armstrong owners corporation spokesperson said.
But the corporation did not want streets cluttered “with headshots of a myriad of local candidates”, the spokesperson said.
“The owners’ club received complaints about the proliferation of signage. The club manager requested assistance of maintenance contractors to remove the signs.”
The spokesperson said Mr Singh was free to erect signs north of Boundary Road, outside the Club Armstrong area, with home owners’ permission.
