STATEMENT BY CLLR RICHARD HUMPHREYS
Labour Party Councillor for Stillorgan
Monday, 31 October 2011
LICENSING SCHEME NEEDED FOR AD SANDWICH BOARDS - HUMPHREYS
Cllr Richard Humphreys, the Labour Party Councillor for the Stillorgan Ward, has called on Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to introduce a licensing system for advertising sandwich boards.
“At the moment, there is no licensing scheme in our county for sandwich boards, which means that no business is entitled to put a sandwich board on a public footpath anywhere in the County.” Humphreys said. “I submitted a question on this issue to the October 2011 meeting of the County Council and I am pleased that the Manager has responded positively and that this scheme will be introduced.”
“Many hard pressed businesses need to let the public know of their services, and sandwich boards can be one legitimate way of doing so. This is of course provided that the street is wide enough to accommodate a board without obstructing pedestrians, and this is the sort of check that a licensing system would carry out.”
“A typical business that needs a sandwich board is one at first floor level, that does not have a shop-front presence. My attention was drawn to this problem by Ms Riogan McClelland of Skinscape Beauty on Blackrock Main St, who works on a first floor premises. Because of the lack of a licensing scheme, she was asked by the Council to remove the sandwich board outside her premises. There are many other businesses in the County that could legitimately need such boards.”
“In some places there are also boards that are unsightly, or obstructive, or are too large for their locations, and these also need to be tackled.” Humphreys said.
Ends
Photo caption: Cllr Richard Humphreys with Ms Riogan McClelland of Skinscape Beauty on Blackrock Main St, braving the weather to view the Skinscape sandwich board.
INFORMATION FOR EDITORS
THE TEXT OF CLLR HUMPHREYS’ QUESTION AND REPLY AT THE OCTOBER 2011 MEETING IS BELOW
MEETING OF DÚN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN COUNTY COUNCIL
10TH OCTOBER 2011
STREET SANDWICH BOARDS
Question: Councillor R. Humphreys
“To ask the Manager to provide a further update on the proposals for the
introduction of a licensing system for street sandwich boards?”
Reply:
“The Environment and Transportation departments have been working closely on
developing a new policy in respect of sandwich boards on public footpaths. The
proposed licensing system for sandwich boards is being done under the Planning and
Development Act, 2000 and Planning and Development Regulations 2001 as
amended. As part of this policy review the departments have also updated the policy
in respect of all street furniture including tables and chairs and also the display of
goods. A single application form for all street furniture licences has been developed
so as to reduce the level of paperwork required by businesses seeking to make
multiple licence applications.
The next step will involve making this new application form available on the Council
website and in the Council offices so that people can apply for a licence. The Council
will also go about compiling a list of all businesses that have street furniture in the
public space and will be drafting a letter informing them of the need to apply for a
licence. There will be an onus on successful applicants to display the licence in a
visible location.
It is important to note that only businesses that meet the necessary conditions will
be granted a licence, for which they must pay and that all businesses that continue
to have unlicensed items in the public space will be subject to fines/ prosecutions
under the appropriate legislation. Prior to issuing a licence the applicant will have to
satisfy the Council that there are no arrears of water charges or rates outstanding in
respect of the premises or that an arrangement has been entered into with the
Council to discharge any such arrears.
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