Urban Physiotherapy director Christopher Nour to challenge North Sydney Council in court over A-frame street sign

A prominent sports physiotherapist has accused his local council of acting ‘un-Australian’ after he copped almost $1000 in fines for displaying an advertising sign outside his business.

A prominent sports physiotherapist is taking his local council to court after he was fined almost $1000 for displaying an advertising sign outside his business.

Urban Physiotherapy director and principal physiotherapist Christopher Nour has accused North Sydney Council of acting “un-Australian” after the council slapped him with infringement notices for placing an A-frame advertising sign outside his North Sydney clinic.

The A-frame sign came under the crosshairs of eagle-eyed rangers which issued Mr Nour three separate fines totalling $990 for displaying unauthorised advertising signage.

North Sydney Council’s strict laws for advertising material stipulate “temporary and permanent signage is not permitted” in the local government area to keep streets free from any unnecessary street clutter or distractions.

Mr Nour – whose work as on-field physiotherapist has included a three year stint working for the Parramatta Football Club – said he was unaware the sign was a breach of the council rule book and was now challenging the fines in court.

A photo of the sign. Photo: Contributed.

“$330 per fine is a lot of money for a small business like us, it’s not small change,” he said. “We just wanted a small sign which we put right next to our business against the wall.

“For the council to be cracking down on small businesses that are struggling is just wrong. It’s un-Australian.

Christopher Nour is challenging the fine in court.

“All around me shops are closing down or have ‘for lease signs’ – they should be supporting small businesses not fining us. Since the fines were issued I’ve spotted 8-10 similar signs that are being put on streets the same as ours.

“I’ve even seen some that have been put out by the council. It’s hypocritical. For whatever reason I feel like we're being picked on.”

North Sydney Council in a statement said the fines were issued after verbal warnings and came after the sign generated complaints from members of the public.

“If everyone chose to place signage outside their business or on public footpaths, they would not be accessible,” a council spokeswoman said.

“Where signs are placed on footpaths, warnings are given to ensure the owner is able to remove the signs before being issued a fine.”

The court challenge fine comes after several other local businesses have received similar fines for placing advertising material outside their shops.

This includes Oski Cafe in Kirribilli which was issued an infringement notice for placing a small advertising A-frame blackboard outside the premises in August.

Oski in Kirribilli was fined over a similar A-frame sign earlier this year.

North Sydney councillor Jilly Gibson.

Councillor Jilly Gibson said she was unaware of any other Sydney council where temporary A-frame signs are prohibited.

“I think most councils turn a blind eye to them – you see signs everywhere around Sydney,” she said.

“No other council would make such an amount of fuss as this. I don’t think allowing signs would hurt anyone – not everyone wants to put out an A-frame sign on the street – it’s mainly to help businesses that are tucked away off our main streets.”

The Urban Physiotherapy sign carried the words stating: “Can’t afford physiotherapy? Come in and have a chat with our physiotherapists. No one deserves to be living in pain. #BeKind”.

The first courting hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.