Freo to sue over sign-clad home

by Danielle McComasky

April 21, 2008

AFTER three years of tortuous mediation, Fremantle council staffers have recommended legal action be taken to get Jan ter Horst to remove the protest signs that cover his monolithic home atop Beaconsfield Ridge.

When told of the move, Mr ter Horst (70) said the spectre of legal action was an attack on his freedom of speech.

“The signage is not illegal,” he said. “It is my property.

“It is freedom of speech and freedom of expression.”

Mr ter Horst painted the first of the dozens of signs cladding his home in 1988, to protest what he saw as an illegal building that blighted his panoramic views of the Indian Ocean. He has been in and out of court ever since, defending his right to speak.

In late 2005, the council appointed professional mediators to resolve a dispute over his protest signs. In 2007, a settlement offer was made, which Mr ter Horst rejected.

Now, city staffers want to reactivate deferred legal action over the signs. According to a paper to be debated by city ouncillors on April 23, Beacy residents have been keen to have the signs removed - because the signs blight the suburb.

Mr ter Horst says the protracted arm wrestle has caused great strain and suffering, with his health and family life breaking down.

“I had to sell my antique business,” he said. “I lost my family and I lost my ocean view.

“I came to this country as a free man, not a convict, and I am being treated like a criminal.”

Questions from eMU News to Fremantle council boss Graeme Mackenzie went unanswered.