Test Valley Borough Council is delighted with Hampshire County Council’s proposal to pilot the County’s first licensing scheme for A-boards in Andover town centre.
The initiative follows a meeting last week between Borough Council Leader, Councillor Ian Carr, and the Leader of HCC, Councillor Roy Perry, which marked the culmination of weeks of discussions between officers and Leaders of the two councils over the issue.
Councillor Ian Carr said: “I have made it clear since day one of this problem that my overriding aim has been to find a solution which will work for the businesses of Andover. As a former retailer myself, I can appreciate the value of A-boards to businesses who have to maximise their marketing opportunities in order to remain successful. I hope that Andover will now lead the way in developing a scheme which can be rolled out across the county”.
Councillor Roy Perry said: “Councillor Carr made a compelling case for a compromise solution to solve Andover’s A-board issues. We agreed to trial a pilot scheme whereby businesses can apply to license an A-board for a modest fee. We all want businesses to prosper just as we all want pedestrians especially those with mobility and sight issues to be able to walk about easily.”
The pilot will be run within Andover Town Centre for 12 months, and will be reviewed after the first four months. Businesses will be required to apply for a licence which includes a £50 fee to cover the costs of Hampshire County Council operating the scheme. The licence terms will cover issues such as sizes, dimensions and suitability of locations of A-boards.
It’s great to see the leaders of both councils working closely together, to resolve this and come to a suitable solution for everyone concerned.
Manuela is quite naive, the reason there has been a sudden U-turn by HCC after Cllr Woodward refused such a scheme, is because HCC were being threatened with every borough in the County facing complaints about A frames, starting with Woodward’s own area. Shame on HCC and TVBC for allowing this to happen in the first place. These businesses should never have been put under this pressure and it was obvious that they would give in with the election just around the corner.