SA:T – Reduce movable clutter

fig6Home Street in particular suffers from an excess of temporary clutter in the form of displays, A-Boards and waste bins. This is especially acute in the section between Lochrin Place and Thornybauk (outside the Cameo Cinema, exacerbated by the presence of fixed street furniture too (see above). Examples are outside McGills and Hex and outside the Killer Restaurant (junction Home Street and Gilmore Place) where the pavement display reduces the already-narrow pavement (Figure 6). On- street displays are also present at the Cuckoo’s Nest (barrels and an unstable board) and Tollcross superstore (fruit and vegetables). Although a matter of subjective judgement, some advertising displays were also considered unsightly and ‘tacky’, which does not contribute to an attractive street ambience.

fig7With regard to waste bins, these also present significant and unpleasant obstacles for pedestrians, with the junction between Home Street and Lochrin Place a particular hotspot for this problem (Figure 7). We found 15 bins located at this single junction, a mix of trade and residential waste. One (movable) bin was sited directly on the pedestrian desire line along the small pavement space left on Home Street.

Rubbish constitutes another significant part of obstructions faced by pedestrians. On our audit, we observed a dumped mattress on Lochrin Place (south side) and loose bin bags on Home Street East (at Greggs).

We accept that retailers are entitled to advertise through street displays, and do not advocate ‘sterilised’ streets; however we suggest that displays or other advertisements should be limited to one per shop. They should also be placed next to the building (not the kerb) as consistent placing will assist blind people navigating the street and minimise the sometimes haphazard zigzag path which pedestrians are currently faced with. Where the pavement is narrowed further because of fixtures such as signage poles (see Figure 8), there should be no A-Boards (unless the poles can be removed).