Council tries to clamp down on businesses' advertising signs
Hundreds of businesses wanting to display portable advertising signs in the Bath area will have to pay for an annual permit to ensure they do not cause clutter and danger.
The idea has been welcomed by a city centre politician worried at the proliferation of A-boards on pavements, but a business leader has described the scheme as a "sledgehammer to crack a nut."
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Bath and North East Somerset Council has launched a consultation exercise on the principle of the permit scheme, for which a charge has yet to be fixed.
It wants to implement a similar licensing regime to the one which controls the placing of tables and chairs on walkways, and says boards would only be allowed where there is a space of at least 1.8 metres (just under 6ft) for pedestrians to get by.
The council says the boards, along with display stands and other freestanding marketing material, can obstruct pavements and cause a hazard for blind and older people, and that it does not at present have a satisfactory system for telling businesses what is acceptable.
Businesses would have to prove they have the right insurance when applying for a permit, and council officials would consult neighbouring firms or residents as well as local councillors. Objections would see applications referred to a council sub-committee for a decision to be made.
Any business putting out a sign which breaks the rules of the permit, such as leaving a sign out overnight, could be fined, while unauthorised boards could be confiscated by council enforcement staff.
Councillor Brian Webber (Con, Abbey) welcomed the launch of the consultation, which will run until the end of the month.
"This is something which I have been urging for a long time. The over-use and misuse of A-boards is an issue which residents frequently raise with me.
"There is a long tradition of shops using A-boards to advertise and we do not want to stop them doing this. But we do want shops to be considerate about where they place their A-boards to ensure they do not obstruct pedestrians."
A spokesman for the council added: "The consultation document is very clear that the council cannot arbitrarily remove A-boards without having set clear guidance for businesses about what standards they must follow. There are currently no clear rules for businesses to abide by, so if the council does attempt to deal with obstructions it is very easy for people to take issue with us.
"This consultation is in direct response to representations the council has received from disabled groups, individuals, retailers, and councillors and the approach we are suggesting is similar to the one taken by many other local authorities across the country.
"The council will carefully consider the comments made by consultation respondents to develop our ideas for the final policy."
But Bath Federation of Small Businesses branch chairman David Gledhill said the suggested scheme was over the top.
"As usual this is the council going completely overboard, a classic case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
"If a board is causing an obstruction, deal with it, no one will take issue with that. But the vast majority cause no problems at all."
The consultation document is at tinyurl.com/5s6oyso.
2 Comments
by rogerh, Bath
Thursday, March 10 2011, 6:10PM
“Town Police Clauses Act, 1847.
Sect. 28: Penalty on persons committing any of the offences herein named.
"Every person who in any street, to the obstruction, annoyance, or danger of the residents or passengers, commits any of the following offences, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale for each offence, or, in the discretion of the justice before whom he is convicted, may be committed to prison, there to remain for a period not exceeding fourteen days, . . . ; (that is to say,)
"...Every person who places or leaves any furniture, goods, wares, or merchandize, or any cask, tub, basket, pail, or bucket, or places or uses any standing-place, stool, bench, stall, or showboard on any footway, or who places any blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection over or along any such footway, unless such blind, shade, covering, awning, or other projection is eight feet in height at least in every part thereof from the ground:
"¿Every person who places, hangs up, or otherwise exposes to sale any goods, wares, merchandize, matter, or thing whatsoever, so that the same project into or over any footway, or beyond the line of any house, shop, or building at which the same are so exposed, so as to obstruct or incommode the passage of any person over or along such footway..."
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by Dave F., Walcot
Thursday, March 10 2011, 12:47PM
“"...will have to pay for an annual permit to ensure they do not cause clutter and danger."
How do these two things equate to each other? Paying for the privilege won't prevent them form being placed inconsiderately.
There are already rules about sign displays, so why aren't BANES dealing with the likes of Aqua in Walcot St. who firstly take over half the pavement width with their alfresco seating then stick an A frame outside that?”