FLY-posters and stickers on bus shelters, litter bins, BT boxes, shop windows and the town’s street furniture are likely to be removed as part of Frome Town Council’s latest action to clamp down on the issue.
At the full town council meeting on Wednesday 13th March, cllr Nick Dove explained that it costs around £80 for the town council’s ranger to remove posters and stickers advertising events around the town.
“It’s really frustrating. We are trying to make the town more attractive and then sometimes, within 10 minutes after Mike [the ranger] has spent an hour cleaning something off [another one appears],” explained cllr Dove. “It’s not as if they stick it on with blue tac; they use sellotape or wallpaper paste; it’s really tricky.”
As one of the lead councillors working on Frome Town Council’s scheme to ‘reinvigorate’ the town centre, cllr Dove said, “I have been going around and taking photos and sharing them with some of the organisations responsible for hosting events and some have been quick to come back and apologise.”
The leader of the council, cllr Lisa Merryweather, asked whether the same applies to vinyl signs and banners on the sides of roads leading into the town. Cllr Nick Dove said, “We have agreed that when there are banners on the bridge coming into Frome, we have taken them all down and will keep them for a couple of weeks. If people want to ask where they are, they can have them back. The idea is to allow the beautiful architecture and street furniture that’s out there, not to be covered.”
Echoing the concerns, the town’s mayor, cllr Philip Campagna, described the fly-posters as ‘unsightly.’
Cllr Andy Wrintmore reassured the council that a local business involved with external promoters is ‘taking the issue very seriously.’ He said, “One of the venues involved is 23 Bath St and I work for them. They are putting in a very clear clause in their contract for external promoters that if they do this, there will be a fine and if they carry on, they will be off the books. Something is being done.”