DISABILITY groups and traders have both reacted in anger to Bradford Council’s latest idea about tackling the safety risks posed by advertising A-boards.

The Executive is expected to row back on moves to ban A-boards in certain areas, and will instead look to set up a licensing system where businesses can pay to keep one board on a public pavement.

This is despite the views of a council scrutiny committee, which met in December to consider the results of a pilot which ran in four areas. After hearing from both traders and disability groups, this committee had recommended that the flat ban be extended “across all clearly defined urban centres of the district”.

Paul Robinson, chairman of the Holme Wood VIP (Visually Impaired Persons) Group, which had been campaigning for an outright ban, said: “I feel like I have been stabbed in the back.

“I can’t believe how badly it would appear they want to treat us. It seems they listened to us and talked to us, then completely ignored us.

“This is horrendous.”

Emmerson Walgrove, chairman of Bradford and District Disabled People’s Forum, said they were also “disappointed” and urged council bosses to think again.

Under the latest plan, businesses in Ilkley, Saltaire, the city-centre and the Leeds Road area of Bradford would be allowed to keep one A-board, on payment of a new licence fee - with the money used to enforce the rules.

Val Summerscales, secretary of the Bradford District Chamber of Trade, said they strongly objected to the idea of a licence fee.

She said: “It’s just another way of revenue raising. It won’t be acceptable to any parties.

“It’s slightly hypocritical. Why is an A-board suddenly not a hazard if you’re paying for it?”

And Ros Seton of Saltaire Sandwiches, who has been campaigning on behalf of Saltaire traders, said a licence system would be an unfair burden on traders in Saltaire, Ilkley and Bradford.

Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Windhill and Wrose), who chairs the health and social care scrutiny committee which recommended the ban be widened, said: “I’m really disappointed that they’ve not taken into account the scrutiny committee’s recommendations.

“Reading through the report, it doesn’t appear they have really looked deeply into the concerns of disabled people who have been campaigning for years all over the country for A-board bans.”

But Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw (Lab, Windhill and Wrose), who leads on planning and who will be recommending a licensing system to his colleagues on the Executive, said: “After the A-board trial ban concluded we looked at all the options and what the impact of the ban was.

“We know it reduced the number of A-boards on the street but it took a significant amount of resource to enforce this.

“If we extended the ban we know we wouldn’t be able to enforce it properly.

“Many other local authorities have a licensing scheme and it only costs a few pounds a week.

“By looking at this in the trial areas we can fund proper enforcement and still reduce the amount of A-boards on the street.

“The key is ensuring licensed A-boards are sited appropriately and aren’t dangerously placed, then people can plan their routes accordingly.

“The Scrutiny Committee recommendations are reflected in the options but we have to consider the impact on resources and be honest about that.”

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