Campaigner for the visually impaired calls for Highland-wide ban on A-boards and pavement advertising signs
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A call has been issued for a ban on pavement advertising in the Highlands after a recent similar embargo was imposed in Edinburgh.
Raymond Smart, who is 65 and from Alness, is registered blind and works as a rehabilitation officer for Sight Action in Inverness.
His work takes him across the region and he said A-boards and similar signs on pavements were becoming more common – particularly in tourist destinations.
He said he used a long cane to warn of anything in front of him but he was unable to mentally log their location because they were not always put back in the same place.
He added: “The cane gets caught in the legs of the A-board but it’s too late you’ve hit it and you have to negotiate your way around it. You are three or four feet nearer the traffic. They never put them on the kerbside.”
Mr Smart said he had suffered knock and bruises in the past and said A-boards and similar signs should be banned from pavements with shopkeepers given an alternative option, such as placing them well above head height.
Highland Council says it has no plans to follow Edinburgh’s example and change its existing policy, which was introduced in 2013.
