Tidy Towns tells council to remove retail signs from footpaths

Tidy Towns tells council to remove retail signs from footpaths


Anton McNulty

TIDY Town adjudicators have recommended to Westport Town Council to seek the removal of sandwich boards and other signs located on footpaths in the town.
The recommendation was made in the report of Westport’s performance in the Tidy Towns Competitions, which was explained at this month’s meeting of Westport Town Council. Ann Moore, Town Clerk explained that among the negative comments made about the town was the amount of signs on the footpaths, which were described as ‘untidy’.
The report stated, “Since the adjudicator last visited Westport there seems to have been a worrying growth in the display of retail goods on pavement areas. This needs to be discouraged; it looks a little untidy and can cause problems for the disabled. Do try and examine this issue again for 2011.”
Ms Moore said that the adjudicators were referring to the display of sandwich boards, postcard stands and other displays which are placed outside businesses. She said they might cause access difficulties for wheelchair users on the footpaths and council will work with businesses to resolve the issue.
Danny McLoughlin, President of the Westport Chamber of Commerce told The Mayo News that this was not an issue that was raised with the Chamber before but they will sit down with the Council and discuss what their options are.
In this year’s Tidy Towns Competition, Westport increased its points tally by two on last year and were only two points behind the overall winner. Ms Moore said the report in general was positive and thanked the Tidy Town committee and the Council staff for their commitment.
Cllr Michael McLaughlin said that he had been critical of the ‘flying saucer sculptures’ in the town but noticed they had been complimented in the report. He also suggested that the Council invest in a product called the ‘Water Guardian’ which he said was invented by a Mulranny entrepreneur, Kevin Rickard and is designed to save water when watering flowers and other garden produce.