A YEAR LONG ban on A boards in the centre of Ilkley is set to be reviewed at a Bradford Council meeting in March - with a recommendation to keep the scheme in place.
The council's Executive will discuss whether to retain and expand the scheme across all its urban centres. The ban has been trialled in four areas of the district - Ilkley, Saltaire, central Bradford and Leeds Road - prompting two petitions from traders calling for it to be halted and one petition from a disability group in its support.
The council's Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee has recommended that the trial be formalised and extended, and that recommendation looks likely to be approved at the Executive meeting on March 7.
The ban was controversial when it was put into place early in 2016 but it is believed to have made a big difference to disabled people
Prior to the trial a total of 132 A boards were counted on Ilkley's streets - but that figure has now fallen dramatically.
A report to the committee in December said: "Many disabled users are now able to move around the pavements of the district with increased confidence due to the removal of the temporary obstructions which were caused by advertising boards. "
Ilkley Civic Society has submitted a statement to Bradford arguing that the council's policy should be widened out to include other hazards such as street furniture, cafe seating, pavement parking, banners and flags, wheelie bins, pavement surfaces, mobile food vans and cycle racks.
The society says: "We suspect no one would disagree that the key issue is to keep our pavements as safe and free from obstruction for all users as possible. There are however many causes that restrict free movement, and the council has failed to address most of these areas - only ‘A ‘boards.
"In order to be consistent, the council should have a policy that includes all of these issues."
It adds: "Limited ‘A’ boards or similar should be allowed, with licensing, for off the beaten track businesses and those with no shop front, but only where an obstruction is not caused. "
Ilkley businesswoman Helen Rhodes was one of those who handed over a petition last year, calling for the council to re-think its ban.
This week she said: "The process has been very frustrating. The council did not approach businesses to assess the impact before the end of the trial as initially promised."
She added: "I can’t understand why this has been so difficult for the council when they managed to mail shot all businesses to tell them about the introduction of the ban in the first place. To be honest, I think it suits them not to receive much information as there is definitely evidence out there that this has negatively affected lots of small businesses in Ilkley. Some of the alternatives suggested were frankly ridiculous and included having a person stood on the street with an arrow pointing to where your shop is. Even at minimum wage, this can hardly be considered a cost effective option."