A-FRAME bill boards: are they really a danger to the public or is it only the opinion of Cllr Woodward?

He sites that there have been a number of complaints, but doesn’t give a precise number, nor is the location of the A-frame billboard that was complained about. To validate his assertion that it is indeed Andover town centre that is the problem, he should at least give the precise number of complainants and the location of each offending A-frame that caused the complaint.

Can we also mention the local government-provided street clutter, such as the cycle stands, benches, granite balls etc also present. Surely if A-frame bill boards designed to attract attention are responsible for sending a steady stream of victims to Andover Memorial Hospital, then local government-provided clutter not designed to scream for attention would cause a pro rata larger number of calamities? Can local government produce those statistics?

Actually, has any Andover town centre billboard owner been sued in respect to an accident? In this litigious society I would have thought Cllr Woodward would be only too ready to produce this evidence as justification for his zeal.

I think a freedom of information (FOI) act inquiry is called for to establish the actual number of complaints made about A-frame billboards in Andover, and whether the complainant had an Andover address. If they can’t produce that data then an approach to the local government ombudsman might be in order to investigate overzealous persecution with no real justification. As an aside let’s not forget that the same FOI request can be made by more than one individual as can complaints to the local government ombudsman.

What I’m guessing is really behind this, is a county council department facing cuts and needs to justify its staffing levels, so Andover’s been singled out for attention because with a commercially struggling town centre it won’t have the money for a robust defence.

Roderick D Pond Birstan Gardens Andover