Council leader defends ‘town hall Pravda’

A taxpayer funded newspaper that tells residents about ‘all the great things’ Herefordshire Council does, is not a propaganda sheet according to its leader.

Conservative council leader Jonathan Lester defended chief executive Alistair Neill’s recent decision to publish the quarterly publication which was dubbed ‘town hall Pravda’ by opposition councillors when it was launched.

The council has spent £499 on the first edition of Herefordshire Now and has made 5,000 copies available for free at county libraries and council offices – it is also accessible on their website.

Speaking at full council last week, Liberal Democrat group leader Terry James asked what the cost of the publication, which contains ‘pleasant pictures of cabinet members’, was totaling.

He also asked: “Does the leader recall the then Conservative minister Eric Pickles actually told local authorities on behalf of the government to stop publishing propaganda sheets at the expense of the taxpayer?”

Councillor Lester did not know the total cost to the taxpayer but said it contained ‘very important’ information about council business.

“What you have to bear in mind is that officers are producing this information and these reports on how the council is undertaking its business all of the time,” he said.

“So, it is a relatively simple exercise in pooling together all of these good news stories and very important information about what the council does do.

“It’s absolutely essential that members of the public and councillors are aware of all of the great things that are happening.

“I don’t see that as propaganda, I see that as the proper way of a council communicating with its residents and it is absolutely imperative that we communicate more with the communities.”

It’s Our County co-leader Liz Harvey said the new publication was a ‘zombie’ version of the previous council publication Herefordshire Matters and that it contained inaccuracies.

“If the information in here is going to be useful and factual for our residents then we welcome it,” she said.

“But as an example of inaccurate information, on the page where there are articles about the proposed bypass it does talk about reducing congestion in the city.

“None of the studies that have taken place have been able to assure the council there will be a reduction of congestion in the city because of the additional housing that will come forward as a result of the road being built.

“So, if we are going to inform our residents, let’s be truthful.

“Let’s tell them if we are going to build this road the traffic is going to get worse, but we are going to have more opportunities to move slowly around this city.”

Coun Lester said he believed the bypass would take traffic out of Hereford.

He said: “I didn’t think it was spinning the yarn but highlighting one of the key benefits of having a bypass as well as all of the economic growth and improvement in air quality which will come as a result.”