
Darlington’s MP has run afoul of council planning regulations by installing an office sign without the necessary permissions. Lola McEvoy, who was elected as a Labour MP six months ago, unveiled her new Blackwellgate office to the public this week.
Despite facing backlash for the delay in opening, she maintained that the safety and security of her office staff were of “top priority”. A red banner bearing ‘Lola McEvoy Member of Parliament for Darlington’ now adorns the town centre building, but it appears the MP failed to secure planning permission for it.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service believes that both advertisement consent and listed building consent would be required for such a sign.
Local Conservative councillor Jonathan Dulston criticised the oversight, tweeting: “It appears that #LazyLola does not follow the process and failed to apply for planning permission for the installation of her new office sign. Will the Labour controlled planning committee just rubber stamp this and push it through retrospectively?”
Acknowledging the mistake, Lola McEvoy confirmed that efforts are underway to obtain the correct permissions.
A spokesperson for the MP said: “This was an administrative error and we apologise. The office received permission to replace the previous signage on the building with our own, but were not aware that additional planning consent would be needed. We’re delighted the office is open to the public and are looking forward to inviting constituents in to help them in any way we can.”
Earlier this week, Lola McEvoy announced the opening of her office.
The spokesperson announced: “The signs are up, so I’m thrilled to say that we’re now able to welcome constituents to our Darlington office on Blackwellgate. “My team has been working from this office since last year, but we’ve had to hold meetings with constituents in various locations around the town as we waited for security to be installed. As I’m sure you understand, the security of our staff and any visitors is the top priority, so we’re really glad that’s now sorted.”
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community
Join our County Durham WhatsApp community for all the latest news County Durham news sent direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/darlington-mp-lola-mcevoy-faces-30903244