Brit school banned from flying own flag because it is ‘advertising’!
May 11th, 2010 - 5:58 pm ICT by ANILondon, May 11 (ANI): A village school in Britain has been banned from flying a flag that was designed by its own pupils as it was deemed to be “advertising”.
St Mary’s Primary School in Beetley, near Dereham, Norfolk was told by Breckland District Council that the flag required planning consent.
The Royal Marine Association in Norwich had funded the specially designed flag to mark the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe.
Children from the school, which has 204 pupils aged from four to 11, had created a new school badge which was being used as the basis of the design.
Second World War veteran Len Bloomfield, 88, of Beetley, said he had wanted the school to have its own flag for years - and said many European schools proudly flew their own flags.
“I have felt for some time that the school should fly both its own and the Union flag and I think it helps to give the children genuine pride in their school,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.
Louise Bunning, a parent governor, said: “We have put such a lot of work into this project and we were keen to fly it to say that we are proud of St Mary’s school.”
However, Ralph Hedley, acting headmaster at the school, was unwilling to give way.
“Breckland Council told us that we needed to get permission from the Flags Commission. We understand that because the flag has the school’s name on it, it is deemed to be advertising,” he said.
“We have applied to the Flags Commission and called time and again but they haven’t got back to us. To be honest once the flag is made we’ll just fly it and if they ask us to take it down we’ll take it down,” he stated.
A spokesman for Breckland District Council said: “Flags used for advertising and promotional purposes are controlled under Advertisement Regulations and would require consent from the council.”
“Planning permission will be required if you intend to fly flags used for advertising, in all likelihood the flying of the school flag will be acceptable to the planning committee,” he explained.
A spokesman for Norfolk County Council added: “It seems there’s a commission for everything.” (ANI)
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Tags: 65th anniversary, breckland district council, dereham norfolk, flags, genuine pride, headmaster, hedley, len, likelihood, norwich, parent governor, planning consent, planning permission, pupils, school badge, school flag, second world war, second world war veteran, union flag, victory in europe