Anger as advertising boards seized

“Aboards help small businesses. Why do they have them? They are small, they are independent, they cannot afford the prime sites as the big boys of retail in this world will pay top dollar for the best sites. My gran is disabled she never moans, she gets on with her day to day life. She loves people working and doing what they can to get ahead in life then you get some who have nothing better to do with their time but wind up other people. Council officials are just doing their jobs its those residents with nothing better to do who complain. Stay home if you don`t like the world as it is. We are not in the same boat as you and you are not in the same boat as others. But just get on with your life and stop pestering people.”

“Shas J makes an excellent point! Oh how very brave of the Council to pop up to genteel Clifton to pick on business rate Council tax payers trying to make an honest living in the worst recession for 80 years but didn't leave their ivory tower to enter the grubby squatters encampment on their own doorstep for 6 months last year. Were each of them fined £50? It's clear whose side this lefty Council is on and ain't the side of those who pay its bills. BCC clearly prefers To Let boards than A Boards.”

“And John667

Get a Quantum 6000z Power Chair and you'll be the fastest man in Bristol, and you;ll be able to turn on a sixpence. (alternatively move somewhere more convenient)

http://tinyurl.com/cynz8u7 (open in a new window)”

“I echo Spigget and J12345678 has their number.

"1.8 metres" - "you could get a bus through there!"

HSE and BCC; both are supercilious, incompetent pedantic 'jobs-worths', behaving like spoilt children. . It takes 10 of them to change a light bulb. .One to change it and nine holding the steps.

The majority of retailers go out of their way to assist wheelchair users or ladies with prams, as long as they don't bring screaming undisciplined children into their shops annoying the other customers.

As 'Charles Henry' said. "The Festival must over!" . . Ssh! . We're not allowed to call it Christmas any more!!

And bris28; you are now forgiven and have a full pardon. :))

I AM a Christian.

Stephen Williams, your days as MP for Bristol West must now surely numbered if you can't stop this travesty.”

“@robynj88 - the council did warn them, read the story again”

“What good sense from Old Leather **** who runs one shop and has other properties in The Mall. Knows what she's on about, does this girl.

Clifton Village deserves a visit from every shopper this weekend for its variety of goods and services available. Where else can you get such a wonderful selection of handmade chocolates, sizzling sausages from Ye Olde Clifton Sausage and wonderful ale in the Portcullis, the village boozer in the heart of Clifton. Then there's Clifton's answer to Anne Summers shops with all its saucy lingerie.

Mayor Fergie should come up Clifton Village this weekend.....but he'll have to spend sterling as the Bristol Pound hasn't reached this part of town yet. Good luck to the shopkeepr who is pictured in the paper with his A=-Board. Just hold on to it sir.”

“This action also needs to happen along the top of St.Micheals Hill. The pavement there is so narrow that people are forced to step into the traffic to avoid them.

It's an accident waiting to happen.”

“Fair Play to the Council on this one. The streets in Clifton are a joke with so many of these pathetic boards all over the place. Some small shops have 2 on such narrow pavements. I feel sorry for the wheelchair users and families with prams. Surely the traders want their business to be accessible to everyone? The streets are a mess up there and it's about time someone cleared them up.”

“Is this the same council that ordered a family to take down a wind-break up on the downs within an hour of putting it up but couldn't shift a bunch of hobo's from their own front lawn costing the taxpayer thousands to restore the green ... ???”

“Under the current economic climate Bristol City Council should be doing all they can to protect the small businesses who pay the council such extortionate business rates and provide valuable employment. To take away pavement A-Board advertising would be another nail in the coffin for the "high Street -local" shop.

Having been in retail I know how important and effective good quality, up to date pavement advertising signs can be and are vital to provide footfall into a shop. How many times has a shop keeper been told "I never knew this shop was here".........

Have Bristol City Council considered the potential damage this will do and the loss of revenue it "might" result in if more local shops close? Perhaps not, as we only ever get "economists, theorists and Health and Safety Maniacs" who make decisions, not real people who live in the real world.

As for this comment in the article:

"A spokeswoman said the seizures followed "major concern raised by Clifton residents that the boards are a hazard for pedestrians, particularly those using wheelchairs, those with pushchairs and people with a visual disability".

Perhaps in time if local Clifton retail businesses lose enough custom and close, A -Boards wont be a problem. Would the residents like that ? They cant have it all I'm afraid. A-Boards have been used for 100 years or more. I would suggest the quality of the pavements are more of a hazard than an A-Board.

Merry Winter Festival ! ;-)”