Black spot

‘The Devil is in the detail’. True of many things and certainly true in the case of buildings, where an incorrect material or colour scheme may strike a jarring note. That is why the Society carefully reviews planning applications. Attention to detail is also important another key part of our built environment: our pavements. ‘Black Spot’ is a common disease of roses. Unfortunately this nasty blight is now affecting the city’s pavements. The affliction manifests itself in the form of a rash of patch repairs with dollops of tarmac used to infill missing paving stones.

A tour of the city’s pavements would make for some pretty depressing viewing, for while some have retained and had their traditional blue bricks relaid, many of them are in a parlous state of repair and look like a patchwork quilt of bodge ups. Does it matter? Well, granted it is not up there with the loss of Green Belt, the state of the River Ver, or the city centre redevelopments. But things like this set the tone of our urban environment. When you aggregate sub-standard paving with other minor degradations such as potholes, damaged and dirty signage, unkempt kerbs and verges, unauthorised retail ‘A boards’ and banners, graffiti, etc, it makes the streetscape look a mess and makes it harder to take civic pride in our city. We are therefore unapologetic about highlighting these smaller issues, which affect people throughout the district, not just in the city centre. If there are issues like this affecting your neighbourhood, do take it up with your councillors, but please let us know, too.