Fake Planning Notices

December 3, 2012 4:37 PM

Phil Lucas has been posting funny fake planning notices around the city of Brighton.
posted by Confess, Fletch (27 comments total)

I would describe these more as whimiscal/surreal than funny, but I did enjoy the sentence "Everybody loves a newt."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:44 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nobody calls me Rebecca, except my brother.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:53 PM on December 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

At the present rate, the amount of edgy, culture-jamming pop signage in the UK, as measured by sign count, word count and physical area covered, will exceed all forms of genuine or official signage no later than mid-June 2013.

In much the same way that entertainment which parodies other forms of entertainment became the majority in 1997, and the amount of referential humor is actually greater than the number of things in the universe that it is possible to refer to.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:54 PM on December 3, 2012 [13 favorites]

I'm sure Mr L Roots, the head of planning in Brighton, won't be too happy about this...
posted by Jehan at 4:56 PM on December 3, 2012

Doesn't this sort of undermine the democratic process?

I kind of wonder if he might've been hired to add noise to the development control scheme by someone concerned that their real plan to bulldoze something of value might meet resistance from the public.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:08 PM on December 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

what is he, 13 years old? these don't even elicit a smile.
posted by seawallrunner at 5:13 PM on December 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

I hate to admit this, but I googled Bert in the Gardens at Giverny. I am hoping the Paintings of Cats Named Bert museum happens.
posted by Ad hominem at 5:19 PM on December 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Worth it just for that signature.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 5:25 PM on December 3, 2012

Sys Rq: I don't know, I'd spend more time reading such signs if there was a chance they wouldn't be something like "Rezone this building from class Commercial 32X-4 to Commercial 32Z-Y"
posted by Canageek at 5:26 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Ballot stuffing, bribery and gerrymandering undermine the democratic process. This likely doesn't.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:35 PM on December 3, 2012

I don't know . . . I chuckled and enjoyed it.
posted by michellenoel at 5:36 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Everything just looks so much more believable on A4 paper.
posted by mochapickle at 5:37 PM on December 3, 2012

Everything just looks so much more believable on A4 paper.

With a masthead no less!

I also enjoyed a lot of these. Nice use of Poe's Law with some of these - replacing a medical centre with a ham store is a scarily believable planning maneuver.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:42 PM on December 3, 2012

If Brighton is anything like my town, these proposals are one bribed alderman away from reality.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 5:47 PM on December 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

I'm amused.
posted by hwestiii at 5:53 PM on December 3, 2012

I liked Dude Chilling Park a lot more.
posted by jimmythefish at 5:56 PM on December 3, 2012

Tough crowd around here! I love weird signs. Sometimes it's hard to tell if something's fake, though. There was a flier posted with a reward for a lost African Bobcat ("large, spotted") and I wouldn't put it past some crazy Angeleno to let their African Bobcat roam free.
posted by ablazingsaddle at 6:13 PM on December 3, 2012

There's something unreasonably amusing to me about the sentence "The rectangle will not exceed one metre in length."
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:00 PM on December 3, 2012 [9 favorites]

I find the signs amusing.
posted by Bugbread at 7:04 PM on December 3, 2012

Something's fishy about these signs. Why can't Walmart build actual zeppelins instead of "Zeppelin-type" airships? Supply issues in China? Led Zeppelin trademark dispute? Shouldn't it be Sam's Club building the airships?
Conclusion: It's a trap!
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:31 PM on December 3, 2012

Haha right! Like someone would name a place "Hove!"
posted by cmoj at 7:45 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

what is he, 13 years old? these don't even elicit a smile.
posted by seawallrunner at 1:13 AM on December 4

And yet for me, they did. Not everyone has the same sense of humour, dude.
posted by Decani at 8:44 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I sometimes have the urge to plant bewildering fake passive-aggressive handwritten notes in random places, like, say, the break room at a doctor's office. For example, "Fellow Smythe Clinic employees: Whoever ate my cupcake out of the fridge (which was in a box with my name on it) I hope you really enjoyed it. Because I didn't. Thanks a lot... ~Hilda"

(there's no fridge in the break room, nobody named Hilda works there, etc)
Chaotic neutral represent
posted by jake at 9:12 PM on December 3, 2012 [10 favorites]

I'm just amazed Levi Roots has time to be Head of Service, what with making all the sauce and being on telly.
posted by dubold at 2:03 AM on December 4, 2012

That's a lot of bakelite.
posted by tommasz at 5:54 AM on December 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

If Brighton is anything like my town, these proposals are one bribed alderman away from reality.

From a fellow Chicagoan, of course.

Hey, Terminal Verbosity, do you also find the whole notion of "Planning Notices" about the quaintest thing? Can you even imagine the mayor or an alderman actually asking for public input regarding a proposed project?

LOL!

(BTW - I'm speaking as a former assistant commissioner at the Department of Planning and Development, so I am aware that public hearings are typically a required step in the process.)
posted by she's not there at 6:32 AM on December 4, 2012

I'm just amazed Levi Roots has time to be Head of Service, what with making all the sauce and being on telly.

Reggae Reggae Town Planning!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 7:40 AM on December 4, 2012