Agenda item

Mr Joseph Hall, 24 Rodney Road

The Licensing Officer, Phil Cooper, introduced the report concerning Mr Joseph Hall’s application for permission to place an ‘A’ Board on the highway to promote his skateboard and clothing store located on the first floor of 24 Rodney Road, Cheltenham.   

The Officer informed members that the application had been brought to committee because it did not comply with the Council’s current policy relating to objects on the highway.  The policy allowed A-boards for businesses such as Mr Hall’s with no street frontage, but stipulated that such A-boards must be immediately adjacent to the entrance to the premises. Mr Hall proposed placing the A-board on the High Street near to the junction with Rodney Road.

The size of the proposed A-board was within the permitted size of the Council’s policy.

Appendix A and B of the report showed the proposed location and image of the A-board.

The Officer advised that the Committee needed to decide whether to allow the A-board to be placed on the highway if they were satisfied that there were sufficient reasons to deviate from the normal policy, or to refuse the application because it did not comply with the policy.

Members had several questions about the location and security of the A-board, to which the Officer replied as follows:

·         The location was opposite the entrance to Rodney Road, a bit further along from Next, near the two gold post boxes.

·         There were no other vendors in that particular area on a regular basis, although one vendor was a little further along the High Street and another one at Christmas time only. 

·         The A-board does not have to be secured but the committee could stipulate this if they wished.

·         The highway could not be dug up to secure the A-board but it could be chained to the post that the picture in the Appendix showed it leaning against to prevent it from being moved.

·         The A-board also had to be weighed down sufficiently to avoid it falling over.

One member had visited the site of the store and reported it was probably some 40-50 metres from the High Street, on the first floor above the Swedish restaurant.  He informed members that the word skateboard was neatly engraved on the windows in the hallway, but that he could see the need for an A-board.

Mr Hall attended the meeting and spoke in support of his application.  He confirmed that he had read the guidelines and was aware he was outside these, but that he had chosen the position as best as he could.

In reply to questions from members, Mr Hall said that the pavement outside the premises was too narrow to allow an A-board, that the Swedish restaurant already had a sign projecting from the building and that the picture submitted of the A-board was a mock up and that there was a hand pointing in the direction of Rodney Road.

Mr Hall informed members that he had been trading from a shop in Bath Street for 3 years and was still trading from there, but had now split the business in two.  He didn’t have an A-board in Bath Street but there was shop frontage.  He confirmed that he had only been trading in Rodney Road for a month and thus it was too soon to tell if a lack of publicity boards had affected business.   He stated that it was a niche market with no other similar establishments nearby and, when asked, confirmed it was primarily a destination address.  He also confirmed that he advertised on social media, google, business listings, yellow pages etc.

Some members empathised with Mr Hall and could see the reasoning for his request for an A-board, but were minded that allowing this could set a precedent for others in Rodney Road who also didn’t have much frontage, leading to a proliferation of A-boards.

Upon a vote to approve the A-board, it was 4 for and 4 against.  The chair took the casting vote against the recommendation.

Upon a vote to refuse the A-board, it was 5 for and 4 against.

Resolved, that Mr Hall’s application be refused because Members were not satisfied that the A-board complied with the Council’s adopted policy in respect of objects on the highway.