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Traffic order plans could cost industry £20m a year

The Newspaper Society is fighting government proposals which could cost the local press industry up to £20m a year

Transport minister Norman Baker wants to remove the requirement on councils to advertise road works or other traffic restrictions in local newspapers.

His department estimates that these adverts cost councils and the Highways Agency around £20m a year, about 60pc of which is picked up by the taxpayer.

However the NS, which represents the local newspaper industry, has described the proposals as “a dangerous threat to the public’s right to know.”

Mr Baker said:  ““It is right that residents and businesses are told about changes to their local roads. But councils and the Highways Agency should have the freedom to use their local knowledge to decide how best to do this rather than being forced to spend taxpayers’ money on indiscriminate advertising.

“These changes will save council taxpayers, the Highways Agency and businesses millions of pounds that they will now be able to spend on improving services for local residents.”

The government envisages that most councils would use their own websites to publicise traffic orders in future.

However the NS says the public’s right to know should not be sacrificed in a bid by local authorities to save costs.

Communications director Lynne Anderson said:  “These proposals are driven by a desire for local authority cost saving with scant regard for the reason the regulations were established – to ensure that traffic orders are publicised to the widest number of people possible. They represent a serious threat to the public’s right to know.

“The last government recognised the danger of this when it abandoned similar proposals relating to planning notices in 2009. Relying on site notices or council websites to advertise traffic orders would severely restrict the general public’s access to them and their awareness of important information affecting them.”

In 2009, the government abandoned similar proposals relating to planning notices following a fierce campaign by the NS.

A consultation on the new proposals, which apply only to England, opened this week and will close on 23 April.

5 comments

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  • February 2, 2012 at 9:22 am
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    It strikes me that the requirement should be for local authorities to advertise in one of the hyperlocal free print publications. That would be advantageous for two reasons – it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than the regional press and second, those publications go to every house, unlike some papers where the household takeup is tiny

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  • February 2, 2012 at 9:46 am
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    If teh public have a right to know, then maybe the newspapers could report the closures as NIBs. Or is it the newspapers right to council tax payer subsidy that the NS is fighting for?
    Maybe the NS should have been looking forward rather than resting on public sector advertising incomes. It’s been pretty clear for years that local councils have been subsidising newspapers through statutroy notices (planning, traffic, etc) and it’s also been clear that councils have not been happy about paying rate card prices while ad sales teams offer the local furniture store full pages of £50 a pop. No wonder councils have been lobbying hard to get the rules changed. Traffic first, planning next – Unfortunately that will mean the end of a lot of locals who have failed to innovate their ad models.

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  • February 2, 2012 at 11:44 am
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    We’ve been getting away with it for years and hoping nobody would notice.

    Why should a council print public notices in a paper read by, at best, one in nine people?

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  • February 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm
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    Freddie, I agree there’s an issue with the penetration / reach of many local newspapers but I don’t believe there are many local authority areas where free newspapers go through every letterbox. The print numbers of freesheets have been slashed in recent years; it’s not a viable alternative to the local newspaper.

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  • February 6, 2012 at 3:54 pm
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    Similar proposal in Wales: Welsh Government aims to make blue disabled badges free for applicants (currently they cost £2), funding this by the move outlined for England above.

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