A FRUSTRATED city and county councillor has called for action to be taken to rid St Johns of the ‘To Let’ signs which he claims are ‘littering the streets’.
Coun Richard Udall said council chiefs needed to step in and tackle the situation and ‘remove the clutter’ from the streets around the city’s University.
The respected councillor said he had been inundated with complaints from St John’s residents about the ‘sheer volume of letting boards left on properties all year round’.
He also claimed student letting agents and landlords were ignoring planning guidelines which say ‘to let’ and ‘for sale’ signs should be taken down within 14 days of the home being let or sold.
“It’s clear the regulations aren’t being adhered to and the landlords who own student properties appear to be keeping these boards up for the purposes of unlimited free advertising,” he said.
“The practice is not being effectively regulated which means that the landlords in question just get away with it scot-free and I think more needs to be done by the council to help clean up the streets and remove the signs.”
As well as local residents, Coun Udall also claimed a number of city students had raised concerns about the continued presence of the boards.
“Some students fear that the permanent signs are a security risk and encourage criminals to target the properties they think are empty,” he said.
“Residents are angry about the lack of control over these boards, I want the Planning Department to get a grip and enforce the rules – we need to tidy up the streets and remove the clutter.”
“The local planning authority should enforce the 14 day rule as well as the rule that there should be no more than one board per property.”
In response, a Worcester City Council spokesman said the authority was aware of the issues raised.
“Provided that landlords, owners or their agents comply with the requirements for signs to be removed within 14 days of a tenancy being agreed, then there is no requirement for approval from the City Council,” he said.
“We do act on any complaints we receive to ensure removal takes place.
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