Some fine streets are spoiled by clutter

Park Street is Walsall’s premier shopping area. Its scale, buildings and proportion are the equal of many ‘big city’ shopping streets, and it retains a good range of retail brands. Overall, it remains a successful example of a pedestrianised high street precinct. However, the form and function is badly spoiled by an excess of intrusive street furniture.

Around the Saddlers centre, such clutter is so dominant it reduces the proportion of the street available to pedestrians to around a quarter of its actual width. People are squeezed into a narrow section when they should be able to roam easily across the entire width of the space.Sightlines are also heavily disrupted, which is likely to deter comfortable footfall.

Park Street is just one example of a street spoiled by clutter.