'It's not a competition about the most signs': Calare hopefuls in hot water over sign drama

Both Orange and Bathurst councils confirmed they had received numerous complaints from residents regarding election posters around their respective towns.

In the case of Orange, a council spokesman said they had been in touch with all candidates' offices to "remind them" of the rules and regulations they must follow.

"The council has asked these offices for their cooperation with managing signage as we progress towards the election, and to remove signs on council-owned land to avoid council rangers having to take them down," the spokesman added.

Bathurst Council has "requested and expects" candidates and their campaign teams to abide by the rules.

Dubbo Regional Council - where Wellington falls into the Calare electorate - had not received any complaints regarding signs.

While no fines have been issued by Bathurst council as of yet, the same can't be said for Orange.

A spokesman confirmed that rangers had recently fined a ute owner donning campaign signage for illegally parking around Orange.

"The ute was fined for parking on a nature strip near a roundabout, after earlier receiving two warnings for parking on a nature strip," the spokesman said.

"The same ute was also fined for parking illegally at another location."

Council could not confirm which candidate material the ute was sporting.

Quite possibly the most prevalent area for campaign material in Orange is opposite Orange High School at the corner of Summer and Woodward Street.

On the afternoon of February 12, 62 signs had been placed on the block at 1 Summer Street/160 Woodward Street.

The land was sold by Orange council in 2021 for $945,000, meaning campaigners require the landowner's permission to put up signs.

The majority of signs opposite Orange High are part of incumbent candidate Andrew Gee's campaign.

When asked what they were doing to lessen the amount of visual pollution, a statement attributed to Mr Gee said they would be "happy" to discuss and address any concerns the council had.

"My 1962 Falcon ute is always safely parked and hasn't been fined," he added.

"The only comments I've had about it are from the many people who love to stop and chat about old cars."

Nationals candidate Sam Farraway - whose signs opposite Orange High are the largest - did not respond to a request for comment.

Kate Hook has two campaign posters at the notorious Woodward Street lot.

The independent candidate said two signs per candidate "could be just as effective as 52 signs."

"It's not a competition about who put up the most signs because nobody likes visual pollution, and when it's put en masse like that, it basically is visual pollution," Ms Hook added.

"It'd be nice if that wasn't part of it, that we didn't have to put signs up all over the place. But we know that candidate identification is really important for people to then look up what you're about.

"So you definitely have to do it, but it's not a competition about the most signs."

As well as signs at homes across Orange, Ms Hook has also organised for a trailer to be situated outside her Bathurst Road headquarters.

She said once the owner of the trailer was healthy enough to drive, they would attach a car to the trailer and they had not been fined.

"We just say to (volunteers) that you can only park them in places where it's legal to park them," Ms Hook said.

"I mean, you know, gosh, in the whole scheme of things, let's not focus on plastic signs, let's focus on actual policies that are important in this election."

The display of election signs falls under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008.

This legislation states that in non-rural areas, signs must be no more than 0.8 square metres in size.

Signs are also only allowed to be displayed during the following periods of time:

Although a date is yet to be announced for the Federal election, it must be held by May 17, 2025.