THE council has turned down an application for an advert on the side of an ice cream shop where there used to be a giant painting of Albion legend Bruno.
Graffiti of the Spanish ace wearing a crown, with the caption El Capitan, adorned the outside of Gelato Gusto as part of a Sky Sports promotion where a mural was painted for each of the Premier League's 20 teams.
However, the council has now rejected a planning application relating to the site on the corner of Gardner Street and Church Street, which previously featured promotions for Oatly and Bombay Sapphire gin.
- READ MORE: Albion’s King Bruno takes pride of place
It comes after North Laine Community Association wrote to the council to say: “Residents and traders alike work hard to improve the area and care for their properties and premises.
“Graffiti is so rife that a few years ago an anti-tagging team was set up to remove it. There are many volunteers from both residents and traders.
“Murals come and go – mostly tagged within 24 hours – but none include advertisements. We don’t need advertising murals to generate a sense of community.”
The painting of Bruno - who appeared played more than 200 times during seven years with the Seagulls - was used during Sky Sports coverge of Albion matches.
It was followed by a mural for Bombay Sapphire gin and one for vegan food brand Oatly, which the council got removed as it did not receive planning permission.
Advertising agency Global Street Art has now applied for permission to paint the side of the shop, where there is currently a giant image of an ice cream sundae.
The company argued that painted artworks did not require advertising consent from council planners in its application.
In the application, the company said it wanted to allow for sponsored murals with a “limited element of advertising”.
North Laine Community Association objected to the plan, criticising the suggestion that hand-painted murals had made a “positive contribution” to the community.
The association also described the suggestion that advertising would fund the public artwork as “derisory”.
A spokesman said: “Its intention is obviously to use the public art excuse as a way of getting around the problem of getting approval for a blatant advertisement.”
The Bruno mural, produced by London-based art company High Rise Murals, first appeared in 2017.
It was in place until 2019, when it was painted over with a mural promoting singer Ricardo Gold's new single Body Language.
The Brighton Society, which previously campaigned on social media against the murals, did not formally oppose the latest plans.
However, in a letter to Global Street Art, council head of planning Liz Hobden explained that the bid was being rejected because the site is in the North Laine conservation area.
She said: “The proposed use of the site for the display of an advertisement (sponsored mural), by reason of the scale of the display area and the fact that the proposed advertisements would not relate to the host premises, would cause harm to the visual amenity of the North Laine conservation area street scene and the setting for the Grade II Listed building nos 6, 7 and 9 Church Street.”
Gelato Gusto previously told The Argus that the murals had "nothing to do" with the business.
Global Street Art has been approached for comment.
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