The future's not so bright for this Indian restaurant (From Gazette)

The future's not so bright for this Indian restaurant

6:00pm Monday 3rd August 2009

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A CURRY house owner has been left with a bad taste in his mouth after council bigwigs ruled its sign was too bright to stomach.

Indian Ocean, previously Shimla Balti, in North Hill, Colchester, is to swap its orange sign for a cooler shade of blue after council planners and residents objected.

Colchester Council ruled the £2,000 sign was too colourful for the conservation area and promptly placed its order for it to be taken away.

Plans to replace it with a blue and white version with gold lettering are on the menu at the council’s next planning committee meeting on Thursday.

Two other shops are also causing the council upset, after shutters put up outside Buffalo Tradings, in Barrack Street, Colchester, and Hip Hop Heaven, in Eld Lane, were branded “intimidating”.

Koysorul Abedin, from Indian Ocean, said the spicy row had proved expensive.

He said: “It’s not good that we have had to spend all this money on changing it at the time of a recession, but we have no choice.

“We had wanted the new sign to be sky blue, like the water in the Indian Ocean.

“The council said it was not acceptable, so we have settled for a darker blue, which is much the same as what was there when it was Shimla Balti.”

However, critics say the new version will still be too colourful.

Colchester Civic Society said the blue would still be too garish, while Anthony Barker, of Roman Road, Colchester, said it would be no better than the existing orange.

Mr Barker said: “North Hill is one of our finest streets.

“Imagine what it would look like if that standard of garish sign was more general?”

Daniel Balamathina, owner of Buffalo Tradings, said he needed the shutters for security.

He added: “Other shops have similar shutters. I don’t know why the council is so concerned about this one.”

Alistair Day, Colchester Council’s interim design and heritage manager, said: “A shop front is an integral part of a building.

“The panels and signage and shutters are all elements which can have a detrimental impact on the surroundings if they are not treated appropriately.”

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