EDITOR – In response to Councillor Geoff Pullan’s request for feedback on his suggestion to make use of vacant flag poles to advertise forthcoming city events, I have to ask do we need more?
The current situation is out of control, street pole advertising has become both street pole littering and visual pollution, and does nothing for the image of Durban as a tourist attraction. Plus it is a distraction to motorists and thereby a danger to pedestrians, runners, cyclists and other road users.
I have mentioned this before, but in 2007 eThekwini Municipality began removing roadside crosses indicating where there’d been an accident and a life had been lost, the reason given by Connie Nel, of the SA Roads Agency, was that they were a distraction to motorists.
If that is the case, do we need further distractions?
The aspect of visual pollution and the effect on tourism also must be considered, here on our own doorstep we are bombarded with primitive placards tied to street poles. The road into uMhlanga from uMhlanga Rocks Drive and also Forest Drive are two good examples.
In today’s world of Electronic Media there has to be a far better way of advertising events, these are a deliberate distraction and an eyesore.
The above information has been passed on to councillor Heinz de Boer on two occasions, but with little or no effect.
My suggestion to Geoff Pullan is to liaise with Heinz de Boer and achieve some results to reduce the current amount of out of control advertising, most of which carries an eThekwini Municipality stamp of approval, before even considering more advertising in the form of flags.
George Moore
uMhlanga
