FLYPOSTING: On October 4th, Hilary McDowell of the Southside Association presented a deputation to the Council’s Environment and Transport Committee Meeting on the issue of flyposting, with particular reference to the Southside. I, as deputy Chair of the SCC, and Councillor Cameron Rose accompanied her in support.

Hilary made 3 suggestions of ways to tackle this issue:

  1. During the Festival, a company gets a contract to put up posters (on the Heras fencing), and part of that contract obligates them to keep the are area within 20 metres of their advertising sites clear of flyposting. This was not done this year and there has been a mess. As the contract is up for renewal now, Hilary suggested that this responsibility not only be strengthened, but that some of the money generated for the Council from the company that wins this contract should be ring fenced for an environmental warden with the specific task of dealing with flyposting. They could clear up, but also send warning letters to the offending organisations and venues, asking them to remove their fliers etc or be fined.
  2. For a few years there was a successful scheme involving Edinburgh nightclubs, called “Unight”, that, among other things, dealt with flyposting about events at their venues. The clubs knew their licenses were at risk if bands playing their venue flyposted. However, this scheme has been lost in all the Council changes/cuts. Hilary suggested that this should be reinstated, with the clubs and bands covering the cost of operating it, and that it could be “policed” by the same environmental warden mentioned above.
  3. Other flyposting offenders are businesses, and organisations with charitable /educational status. Hilary suggests that these offenders, along with those above, could be tackled by the Council taking on the extra powers that they are entitled to take on by existing National legislation, to make part or all of Edinburgh a “controlled area” where no advertising is permitted. Again, the designated warden could police this. Token fining would warn off many potential offenders.

Philip McDowell (SCC communications and webmaster) had put together a presentation of photographs showing examples of flyposting in the Southside, and this ran on a loop during the deputation.

The deputation was well received by the Committee.
Gareth Barwell, (Head of Place Management) made assurances that Licensing will reinforce the importance of this issue.
Paul Lawrence, (Executive Director of Place) said this will be on the agenda of the Festival Review and will be included in the subsequent report.
Councillor Burgess, who is on the Committee and had encouraged Hilary to take the deputation, spoke in support and made a request for a follow up to the committee to help ensure that promises are seen through.
Other Councillors and Committee members spoke in support.
Cllr Mac Innes, Chair of the Committee, praised the quality and timeliness of the deputation.

Joan Carter, Environmental Committee, SCC

See the webcast of the meeting.

See the Evening News article.