Local resistance to land-use planning and development decision-making can be divisive for communities, cause expensive delays for developers, and can be politically damaging to local government authorities. We use a case study of community activism at Yaroomba, a small town on the Sunshine Coast (SC) of South East Queensland, Australia, to illustrate a campaign of resistance to a proposed beachfront highrise development. The community used transient protest signs on their footpaths and fences as a vehicle of self-expression. Our aim was the artefact analysis of these signs as a representation of a community’s voice of protest within the planning and development process.