Poppy display axed due to new guidance over flags

Hoyland Remembrance and Parade Group has cancelled its display of 350 poppies in the town centre

A remembrance group has said it will not display poppies on lampposts this year due to tighter council safety guidance in response to unlicensed flag flying.

For the past three years, Hoyland Remembrance and Parade Group has hung 350 wooden poppies in the town centre, each bearing the name of a soldier commemorated on the town's war memorial.

However, updated guidance from Barnsley Council, including preventing attachment to posts with road signage, has made their installation "impractical", according to the group.

Council leader Sir Steve Houghton said: "We remain committed to working with community groups to ensure such tributes can be delivered safely and appropriately."

The group was told it would need to install the poppies above head height, but could not lean ladders against the posts as before.

The poppies would also have to be removed within five working days of Remembrance Day.

Barnsley Council tightened its rules in response to "unlicensed attachments" to lampposts earlier this year

Group organiser Liam Hill said they felt "disheartened and upset" they could no longer go ahead with the display.

He said its main issue was being unable to attach them to posts with road signage, which meant the town centre would be "bare" and they would not have enough space to display all 350 names on the poppies.

"We'd then have to make a choice about whose name and whose poppy to leave off, and we don't think that's right, we can't do that."

However, he said he neither blamed the council nor people who had raised flags in the town, and said ultimately it was the group's own decision to cancel the display.

"We don't want to do anything that does pose a safety risk, but we just find that it's hard to work within what we've been given."

He said the remembrance parade would continue as planned, but also hoped the poppy display might return next year.

"We intend to engage with the council over the next 12 months - we don't know how rigid this is."

'Open to constructive feedback'

Houghton said: "We appreciate Hoyland Remembrance and Parade Group's continued commitment to honouring our fallen heroes and recognise the significance of this annual event to the local community."

The council said it reviewed its guidance on the Highways Act in response to "unlicensed attachments to street lighting", although it noted that the relevant legislation had not changed since 1980.

A council spokesperson said: "The council's first duty is to the health, safety and welfare of all highway users."

They added the council provided the group with £1,815 in ward alliance funding for this year's parade and was "more than happy to work with the group to explore solutions to any practical problems they may be experiencing".

Looking ahead, they said: "The council is open to constructive feedback."

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