ADVERTISING signs on pavements in Tavistock will have to be removed following a decision by West Devon planners this week. Planning committee members voted unanimously on Tuesday for the removal of A- boards from Tavistock and Okehampton town centres which had now, according to officers, reached a level that was causing an inconvenience to pedestrians and detracting from the historic nature of the towns. Shops and café owners will have to remove the signs by March 24 or they will be removed by the council's enforcement team without further notice. Chairman of Tavistock Chamber of Commerce Nigel Eadie said the idea to ban A-boards had been on the cards for some time. 'Dozens have been put up recently – if you walk down the street there are about 40 A-boards that are about,' he said. 'Not everyone agrees in favour of the boards and you can argue that the profile of the town looks very unsightly. 'There are two sides to the argument — one is the means to draw people into the business and the second is that some look tacky and bring down a unique market town and don't complement the architectural assets of the town.' He said he did not think the businesses would go bankrupt as a result of this decision. The planning committee heard there had been a significant increase in the number of signs — as of last month there were 44 such signs in Tavistock and 17 in Okehampton. Planning officers considered this visually harmful and in places impeded the use of pavements and dropped kerbs. Pavement signs required the consent of both the landowner, in this case, Devon County Council and that of the local planning authority — but none of the signs had consent, the committee was told. Chief planning officer Jane Hart said: 'Officers are well aware of the potential sensitivity of this issue and the importance of maintaining the viability of town centres, but the signs have now reached a level which detracts from our historic towns and are being an inconvenience to pedestrians.' It was suggested that a small number of well designed, fixed shared signs would be preferable to the individual boards in secondary trading positions. Cllr David Best from Tavistock said he had no objections to the ban but he would like alternative signage to direct people to shops hidden away in secondary areas.
