Derbyshire County Council says it will not follow city neighbour to remove Union Jack and St George Cross flags
After Derby City Council announced it would begin removing unauthorised flags from public spaces next month, county counterparts have said they have no plans to follow suit.
On Monday, September 22, city cabinet member Councillor Sarah Chambers announced her council would begin removing the Union Jack and St George Cross flags which have been hung from lampposts, bridges and other street furniture over the summer in a nationalist political movement.
Cllr Chambers said: “We’ve applied flexibility in our discretion in recent weeks, but going forward anyone wishing to display posters, banners, flags or similar on public land or street furniture must obtain the standard permissions.
“As part of our statutory responsibility to keep public spaces safe and well-maintained, we will be required to remove items that have not obtained the standard permissions.”
Amid much debate about whether the flags symbolise unity or division, earlier this month the city council said it was monitoring the flag situation as a potential incitement to hate crimes or harassment – but it appears the decision to remove them is based on more practical concerns.
Cllr Chambers said: “It is time to bring this campaign of flag flying to an end as we need to begin to clear our lampposts for future seasonal and commemorative events.”
Remembrance events in November usually see poppies attached to city lampposts, later replaced with Christmas decorations.
That has not gone down well among some sections of the community, with the BBC reporting that Cllr Chambers had received threats of violence in the wake of the announcement, which has been reported to the police.
The city and county councils had previously taken a similar position, effectively allowing flags to remain in place unless they posed an obvious safety hazard.
Councillor Alan Graves, leader of Derbyshire County Council for Reform UK, said that stance is still the case outside of the Labour-run city, and has accused Cllr Chambers of “pandering to a far-left-wing agenda and against the average resident of Derby.”
He said: “We believe the city council’s approach goes against the feeling of local residents and is an extra cost to their council, whereas, our stance remains the same with regards to people putting up flags.
“Our highways policy sets out a risk-based approach to managing issues such as flags being attached to street lights, so that we can make sure that our roads and pavements are safe for everyone to use.
“If we are made aware that flags have been attached to lamp posts we will assess to see if these pose a danger to the public, and only remove them if they do pose a danger. We will take the same approach if flags are painted on roundabouts. To date we have seen very few flags – flying or painted – which pose a risk to drivers.”
The Derbyshire Times asked the county council whether it might consider removing flags should their appearance degrade in the autumn and winter weather, and whether it was also monitoring the flags as a source of criminal incitement. The authority did not respond to those questions.