A FORMER town councillor is calling for a crackdown on the advertising boards littering the pavements of Maldon High Street.
Tom Kelly, 73, says there are too many A-boards at the bus stop near St Edward's Walk, opposite All Saints' Church, when the pavement is already crowded with bus passengers and shoppers, many with wheelchairs, mobility scooters or prams.
The former Maldon Town Council member, who raised the issue at Maldon District Council's full council meeting on Thursday, said: "Some days there can be up to 15 sandwich boards on the pavement and it can be a huge squeeze for everyone to fit on the road.
"You have pedestrians, shoppers and sometimes up to 20 bus travellers all using this tiny bit of land and it's just ridiculous that everyone has to squeeze past.
"People need to be able to access the High Street properly."
In February 2013, Essex County Council ruled that businesses are limited to just one advertising board at their entrance after it backtracked on a proposed ban.
Instead the council will leave it to local authorities to decide how to tackle the issue locally.
But despite Maldon District Council's planning and licensing committee pledging to remove the boards at its meeting on October 3, they still remain.
Mr Kelly of Midguard Way, Maldon, said: "We also have a lot of elderly residents and people with young children that have to slalom their way through the crowds waiting for the bus and these advertising boards.
"If the council have decided that they are to be removed, why are they still there? We all want to improve the town as quickly and as efficiently as possible."
A Maldon District Council spokesman said: "In response to Mr Kelly's question, the head of planning services advised the committee that officers were in the process of contacting all companies currently advertising on A-boards within High Street, Maldon, providing a timescale for their removal. This action would also be undertaken across other parts of the district."
Mr Kelly, an ex-NHS worker at St Peter's Hospital, also feels that a bench with advertising on would be a reasonable solution to the problem of queuing bus passengers and shoppers.
"I feel that it's a great compromise," he said. "That way we can still have the advertising but it allows people to sit down as they wait for their bus. The other side of the road has ten benches, so it wouldn't be a case of buying a new one – you could even take one from the other side."
In response to Mr Kelly's request for a bench on the street, Maldon District Council said: "The footpath to the highway is the responsibility of Essex County Council and an enquiry has been made to Essex Highways regarding the possible provision of a suitable bench or seat for the use by elderly people or others waiting for buses."
