LETTERS are being delivered in Monmouthshire to inform the business community on new charges for A boards and street furniture.

Beginning with Chepstow, businesses in the towns of Caldicot, Magor, Monmouth, Abergavenny and finally Usk and other villages will be advised on Monmouthshire County Council’s (MCC) guidance to control the placement of goods and advertising on its town pavements.

The letter will state that the council recognises that a limited amount of street advertising, private furniture, sale items and displays adds to the character and atmosphere of our towns and villages, but reminds businesses that it also has a statutory duty under the Highways Act (section 149) to maintain the footways primarily for pedestrians.

In an effort to acknowledge these conflicting interests, MCC has adopted a policy to allow traders, charities and community approved groups to place items on the public highway.

The commercial obstructions in the highway policy consists of four elements.

A Board Policy: Displaying, for local businesses, advertising on the public highway in the form of ‘A Board’ style advertising, a one off licence fee of £50.

Flyposter Policy: Displaying, for not-for-profit organisations and community events, advertising on the public highway in the form of banners, free licence.

Commercial Activity Policy: Placement, for local businesses, of items on the public highway in the form of tables and chairs, displays and sale items. One off licence fee of £125 and an annual fee ranging from £120 to £360.

The Community Activity Policy: Placement, for community approved items on the public highway in the form of furniture and memorials, a one off free licence.

Steve Lane, Highway Operations Manager with MCC lists in his letter the criteria which will apply to the display of goods and A boards which includes the obstruction does not encroach onto the footway by more than one metre; they shall be secure so that they do not collapse if they are hit; any sign measures no more than a height of 900mm, a width of 450mm, and a depth of 450mm approx shall be highly visible and where the existing designated footways have less than 1.5 metres unobstructed width, no displays will be permitted. Traders will also have to provide evidence of their Public Liability Insurance cover to the minimum value of £5 million.

The above criteria have been established following widespread consultation with the Chambers of Trade and Commerce for the main towns, CAIR (Monmouthshire Disablement Association) and the town councils.

The letter adds that it is hoped that this policy will require very little policing and that traders will “abide by the criteria in the knowledge that every endeavour has been made to strike a fair balance between the needs of traders to pursue commercial success and the rights of pedestrians to have safe and unhindered passage of the pavements”.

A Monmouthshire officer will be visiting businesses to provide further information and licencing application forms should they wish to place items on the highway or pavement.