Café sign ban is 'just ridiculous' >with video
A struggling café owner has been forced to remove a sign advertising her business because it "distracted drivers".
Donna Jenney, 44, who owns the Riverside Café on Beverley's Grovehill Industrial Estate, said the move by East Riding Council was "ridiculous" and a kick in the teeth for desperate businesses during the recession.
Ms Jenney started a bikers' night four weeks ago to help her business and put out an A-board on a patch of grass separating lanes by Grovehill Road roundabout.
She said the sandwich board was outside for just three hours every Tuesday night and helped people to find her café, which is tucked away, off the main road.
But council officers said the sign would draw drivers' attention away from the road and threatened her with a £75 fine.
Ms Jenney called it "the last nail in the coffin" for her business.
She said: "If that is a distraction, then so are the flower beds on the roundabout, or girls walking past half-naked in the summer, or the sign pointing people towards the East Riding Council depot.
"It is outrageous that, at a time when businesses are struggling and I am trying to do something to let people know where I am, the council will not show some leeway."
The Riverside Café is one of 70 businesses in the East Riding that have been handed warning notices about A-boards in the past 12 months. Eight of these have been penalised.
The council has given a variety of different reasons for the removal of the signs, including distraction to drivers, obstruction to footpaths and the impact on the environment.
A spokesperson said it was merely enforcing the 1980 Highways Act.
He said: "The situation around Grovehill Road is about the boards distracting drivers.
"We do not want drivers' attention to be distracted or diverted from the road. It is therefore not appropriate to have these signs by a busy roundabout. This is national legislation."
The spokesperson said the council had a successful clampdown on boards on Beverley's high street four years ago.
He said: "A few years ago, there were more than 100 premises with boards outside along North Bar Within, Saturday Market and Wednesday Market.
"It is a heavily pedestrianised area and, as such, we asked businesses if they could get rid of the signs. We had a really good response and since then, it has just been a case of staying on top of that."
Turkish restaurant Seraglio's was fined twice at Christmas – £75 for each side of its A-board – after putting a sign out on North Bar Within, in the town centre.
Manager Kafadar Seraglio, said: "They said my sign was a distraction to drivers, but if that is a distraction then so is the names of shops painted above the doors, or signs put up in windows."
Poppy Seed cafe, also on North Bar Within, is another business which has received a warning letter about its A-board.
Waitress Teresa O'Grady said: "If the tables and chairs which go along with the new cafe culture in Beverley aren't causing an obstruction, how can our board be?
"We cannot afford the corporate advertising of the Costas and the Cafe Neros.
"If our boards are distracting drivers, then I assume the council won't be putting up distracting Christmas lights this year."
Sandy Patience, chairman of the Beverley and District Civic Society, said the claim that A boards distract drivers was "bonkers."
He said: "If the council is going to make an assertion like this, it needs to be based on evidence. Have they conducted a survey to ask if it does distract them?"
Jackie Snape, director of charity Disability Action Yorkshire, supported the move by the council.
She said: "The position of some A-boards shows no consideration for people with restricted mobility who, at times, have no choice but to move into the road to avoid them."
41 Comments
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by Fred, Grimsby
Friday, April 24 2009, 2:09PM
“I agree, how ridiculous.”
by Rolf, Beverley
Friday, April 24 2009, 8:45AM
“Rod go back to bed, then try getting out the other side.
Why is the glass always half empty with people like you? These sort of comments always from fireside experts who will never do anything for their community, too busy moaning about everything and everyone else.”
by Jimbo, Beverley
Friday, April 24 2009, 7:49AM
“Rod from Beverley - get some facts right.
The Christmas lights and trees in Beverley are not run by ERYC...
...it's a voluntary group, aided by the much smaller Town Council, doing what they do for free - trying to raise fuinds throughout the year.
ERYC do NOT fund this. They do NOT raise funds...
...it's a bunch of community volunteers Doing their best.
If you can do better, Rod, why don't you offer to help out, or at least get the facts before having a go!
You've just kicked a bunch of volunteers trying to do their best for the town. Thanks a lot!!!”
by David, Beverley
Friday, April 24 2009, 6:09AM
“Donna as soon as I get a chance I'll pop down on my bike, Cllr David Elvidge, Deputy Mayor of Beverley”
by just me ?, hull
Friday, April 24 2009, 1:21AM
“i cant see the problem with this sign there is one right next to the roundabout in cottingham advertising the farm shop on southwood road shouldnt that and may more have the same rule and all be removed its sad that this lady cant try to keep her buisness going with a little advertising board the council should give her a brake !!!!!!”
by Rod, Beverley
Thursday, April 23 2009, 11:27PM
“To Quentin Double Barrelled surname who said and I quote:
"Thank goodness we don't want the area running down with hairy bikers." Quentin farquar Windsor, Bev.
I have reported your post as abusive and slanderous and imagine it will be removed forthwith, what what.”
by Rod, Beverley
Thursday, April 23 2009, 11:17PM
“And one more thing (well a few actually) .....
Is ONE sandwich board placed strategically at the side of the road any more or less distracting than the thousands of a handful of Local MP's campaign posters that go up everywhere at Election Time, when they need our support?
And what about bustop advertising boards, bill boards, signs for roadworks etc (often roadworks that are no longer there). The list is endless need i say more ...”
by Rod, Beverley
Thursday, April 23 2009, 11:10PM
“We too have friends who have a restaurant in Beverley and they were served with a notice and the threat of a fine if they did not comply. In their case the sign was put out daily after 6.30pm and removed again around 9.30 - 10pm. It was always positioned so as not to cause an obstruction to anyone passing.
This letter was from the same council that charges extortionate business rates (in the upper 25% for the UK) for a mediocre service, the very same council that at Christmas time, approaches all businesses within the main shopping areas of Beverley, asking them to fork out hard earnt cash for the privelage of having the poxiest of Christmas trees and a few lights thrown above the shops (don't start me on their pathetic attempt at Xmas decorations. We must have the only Council in the UK to still buy their Seasonal decorations from Del Boy Trotter).
This is definitely beaurocracy gone mad, yet another example of some council wannabe with to much time on their hands, whoever thought thinktanks were a good idea!
Call me cynical but if the local council were to suddenly start charging for putting these boards up, I am sure that the Councillor that thought of this money spinning idea would get a pat on the back and a promotion.
Business is tough enough at the minute without persecuting the honest business man for trying to promote their wares, as long as it is done in a sensible and safe manner.
So, just for once let common sense prevail and realise that by relaxing the rules slightly and introducing guidlines for the use of such items (i.e. not to cause a nuisance or hazard), Beverley will not become the Sandwich Board Capital of Europe.
We live in hope the "Support your local businesses" campaign, applies to the same council that promote it.”
by Andrew, Hull
Thursday, April 23 2009, 10:05PM
“This is yet another example of officials running the show; people who wouldn't have a clue when it comes to earning a living like the rest of us.
Donna is doing her best to earn a living and make her business a success. I do frequent her cafe on a regular basis and can highly recommend it. She serves good food (her cafe is not a greasy spoon) and serves it quickly in pleasant surroundings. We need more places like this.
The council needs to support local businesses. They are the life blood of any community. After the publicity Donna has received, I trust common sense will triumph and ERYC will allow her to place the sign in the same place again.”
by martin, used to live in beverley
Thursday, April 23 2009, 9:53PM
“Sack the idiots who said this is a distraction. SACK THEM. THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE RUNNING A SANDWICH VAN NEVER MIND A COUNCIL. Now lets see what distraction we have whilst driving...errm lamposts, get rid of them. Road signs, get rid of them. Street name signs for those of us who don't know the area. They could go. Pedestrians, they are a distraction. Cyclists, they could go. That's a good idea. Traffic lights are a distraction but then they cause the traffic not to move at all. Best idea is to ban the car off the road altogether and then there will be no distractions. Oh, one last distraction, the biggest of all are those nice 'safety' camera people hiding behind bushes, fences and other vehicles inviting us to hit our brakes even when we are doing the speed limit and giving us the opportunity to be constantly looking at our speedometer instead of the road ahead. I wonder if anyone who has said this sign is a distraction has interests in a other cafe or similar establishment. Be interesting to know the age of said person/persons raising the complaint. Glad I moved away.”