I ADMIRE perseverance. Back in early 2005, Sir Ronald Cooke stepped forth to champion the uncluttering of York. Bill Woolley, then director of environment services, yielded chivalrously. “There is too much street clutter”, he confessed, adding proudly, “I have a reputation for delivering”.
Alas, as with attics and garages, cities are easier to clutter than to unclutter. Besides, providing officers with appropriately magnificent accommodation, hiring consultants and paying for the installation of legally required signage (not to mention reimbursing illegally fined motorists) doesn’t leave that much in the kitty to satisfy the wish list of residents.
Ten years have passed. Bill Woolley has made his last delivery. Bollards, A-boards and signage abound, yet our doughty knight battles on. What an example! As for A-boards (a major hazard) I think the information might be displayed less dangerously, and as effectively, on shop fronts, walls or even above our heads. On a more personal level, I should like to see those unsightly and inconvenient cycle racks removed from what is, by definition, a pedestrian area.
William Dixon Smith, Welland Rise, Acomb, York.
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