Cornwall council continues to defend its own newspaper (From Falmouth Packet)

Cornwall council continues to defend its own newspaper

8:49am Tuesday 16th September 2008

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Cornwall’s much criticised county council newspaper is costing the taxpayer almost £50,000 a month and it is not even printed in Cornwall.

The second issue of the newspaper has been circulated throughout the Duchy over the past week, some being wrapped in polythene at extra cost to ensure they get to every household.

For the second month in succession, the newspaper contains no advertising, the full cost of its production being borne by the taxpayer.

Some senior members of the county council have again questioned the validity of the newspaper and its value. Part of the cost of the newspaper was to have been offset by including council advertising but that has failed to materialise and the authority have still had to pay out to other sources for advertisements.

This week the authority issued a statement in which it claimed it told taxpayers in July that it would not be possible to include time sensitive job advertising and public notices in the first two issues due to initial longer deliver periods.

“In the meantime, we have taken the opportunity to save money in other areas by publishing news about One Cornwall rather than producing a new leaflet at a cost of around £30,000, to update residents of council services by publishing an A-Z listing saving £1,000 and also to publicise the new Truro Park and Ride scheme and Schools Admissions reminder, saving money from advertising in the local media,” said the statement.

Copies of Your Cornwall in a polythene wrapping have been delivered to 114,000 households in the county by second class mail this month.

Mark Kaczmarek, a councillor from Lanner is appalled. “the people responsible for this magazine just have not thought it through. It’s been a complete disaster and no one wants it.”

He had returned the first copy he received. This month he received two. One at home the other at County Hall. He says the newspaper does nothing to address the needs of the people living in Cornwall. “It’s £420,000 worth of claptrap,” he said, referring to the annual budget put aside to publish the newspaper.

One irate taxpayer asked: “Like many of those in Cornwall that do their best to recycle and the county council promoting and encouraging people away from the plastic bag culture, I would like to know just why this plastic bag sealant is now being used.”

Another said: “If shooting oneself in the foot was an Olympic sport then David Whalley (county council leader) would have more gold medals than Chris Hoy.”

Carol Theobald, head of communications at county hall said: “The preferred ‘door-to-door’ method of delivery was not available for some postcode areas in September and in order to ensure delivery across the county, a small proportion have been sent in polybags. This is a one off, and from October, ‘Your Cornwall’ will be delivered through people’s letterboxes without any wrapping. If items are undelivered the package can be returned to the Doncaster address for recycling or returned to us.”

Do we need Your Cornwall? Comment below.

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