Fake notices announce Church coming

The City of Albany is investigating the placement of fake public notices at the old Esplanade Hotel site announcing a Church of Scientology was coming soon.

A sticker saying “Church of Scientology coming soon” was stuck across Merrifield Real Estate’s for sale sign, and fake City of Albany public notices were placed on access gates.

The notices were printed on City letterheads and claimed to inform the community of a site development currently before Albany City Council to build a church facility.

The signs stated that building plans for the proposal were available for viewing at the City offices, and that the proposal was open to public comment until the end of January, 2014.

The signs were discovered on Thursday morning, December 19, and the City of Albany moved quickly to distance itself from them.

The City said in a statement that it did not produce or authorise the notices, and that there had been no applications submitted to council regarding the use of the Esplanade site.

City staff removed the signs and the matter is being investigated.

The City has reported the incident to police and view it as a serious offence.