A whole lot of hoardings
Things have come full circle. There are people trying to prove the Earth is flat.
Once they were the majority, backed by governments and church, while others were trying to prove the Earth is a globe. That the latter succeeded is apparently still up for debate, unless it’s not really about the shape of the planet but because all the believable causes are taken and Flat Earthers are forced to revert to something proven but not universally accepted. Either way, it’s a bit of fun and we can do with humour, wherever its origins.
Humour, however, is lacking on the far too many hoardings spoiling the landscape.
Every time we have an election — local or national — the hoardings come out and enormous faces and fatuous slogans grace our “green” spaces. Are they really necessary?
Certain countries, and at least four states in America have banned them. They consider them an ugly intrusion and, in light of all the other ways for a candidate to reach the public, redundant.
Some hoardings are mobile, sitting high on trailers and getting carted to various locations on the side of the road.
There are rules surrounding hoardings and where and when they can be placed, but it doesn’t alter the fact that, to many people, they are a dangerous distraction. Some, like the trailer transported variety, can impinge on valuable road space and form an obstacle for bicycles.
Wherever they are placed, the objective is to attract the attention of motorists, diverting their eyes from road and traffic to convey a short political message summed up in three words: Vote For Me!
In an age where candidates can reach potential voters anywhere through newspapers, radio and the ubiquitous social media, it beggars belief that they still consider it necessary to spoil the view with huge pictures of themselves. We don’t need them, but we do need unimpeded visual access to our calming green spaces. Get rid of the hoardings!
While checking out the hoardings in Dublin St by the bridge, I inspected the newly installed footpath and gutter. Nice job, but I had received a phone call from a reader who was concerned that something had been left off. It meant walking around the block of the Cornmarket Reserve, looking closely at the gutter.
Coming off the Dublin Street bridge in a mobility scooter, wheelchair or pushing a stroller, you can access the road via one of those “lips” from the footpath. Then what?
You can’t access the footpath on the Cornmarket Reserve. The nearest “lip” is in Dublin St opposite Z or on the corners of Somme Pde and Pitt St or Dublin and Pitt streets.
Oops.
We have progressed to a stage when we should be more aware of our disadvantaged citizens and alternative means of transport for the elderly, but someone has forgotten about them entirely, denying them access to safety.
Can we get this fixed please?
Damage control. In the Literary Festival published pieces in Midweek a mistake has been seen and duly noted.
Admission to Corey Mosen’s event on Sunday, October 6, 10-11am, is $15, not $30 as previously reported.
The $30 event is Amber Rose’s High Tea at 3pm on Sunday, October 6 in the Pioneer Room of the War Memorial Centre.