Clearing the footpaths

Press, 2 April 1987, Page 24

Clearing the footpaths

The climate in Christchurch hardly encourages open-air restaurants or pavement dining. It is left to shops that display wares outside their doors to bring a hint of an exotic bazaar to parts of the central city and suburban shopping areas. Sensibly placed, such displays can make browsing more enjoyable. Some shops have their frontages set back a little to make room for outside displays that do not intrude on to busy footpaths. But what of shops that put goods or free-standing signs on footpaths, or on the median strip of a dual carriageway road? The Christchurch City Council is proposing a new by-law that would ban all such obstructions . and distractions. Council by-laws already cover the kinds of signs that can be displayed on buildings; there has been little control over what happens down on the footpaths. Councillors this week said the rules will have to be strictly enforced. Something more is involved than bureaucratic interference with a harmless adornment to city streets. In some places —

parts of Colombo Street north of the Square, for instance — free-standing signs can block movement on crowded footpaths. A sign that leans against a building is less offensive than a hinged board placed at right-angles to the traffic flow. But both blow down frequently in breezy Christchurch. When they do, they can be a serious hazard to elderly people, people whose sight is poor, and for parents trying to control children and prams. Control over such signs would be welcome, but the rules might be applied with a dash of common sense. Secure signs against the wall of a shop, or merchandise on display that intrudes only a few centimetres on to a footpath, are hardly worth a lot of fuss. Let them continue to brighten the streets. Apply the rule firmly against signs and goods that clearly obstruct movement, or that might be blown around. Best of all, use the by-law rigorously against those who toss their bicycles across footpaths, especially outside such places as fast-food bars in suburban shopping areas. Bicycles can be the worst footpath hazard of all.