Local Matters magazine - 'a waste of money'

Photo: Laura Wild

Kathleen Taylor and Melita Saliba think that the Council magazine is a waste of money.

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Council tax  in the borough of Rochdale is to increase by almost 4%. This increase is well over twice the national average and the second highest amount in Greater Manchester.

This will hit pockets hard, yet the council is still employing 19 people in a media team that costs tax payers close to £2 million (including over £600,000 in salaries), and refuses to stop producing a glossy council magazine, ‘Local Matters’, that critics say is not needed, not read, and is nothing more than council 'propaganda'.

Both Labour and Conservative councillors have called for the magazine to be scrapped but the Lib Dems, who currently control Rochdale Council, refuse to scrap the magazine and voted down a proposal to do so at the recent budget council meeting, insisting the magazine was well read - an observation that brought howls of derision from the opposition benches.

So we decided to find out what you think and sent our reporter Laura Wild on to the streets of Rochdale town centre to find out if people read the magazine and whether they think the cost of production is acceptable when frontline services like social care are being cut.

Kathleen Taylor and her friend Melita Saliba think that the magazine is a waste of money. Ms Taylor said: “I don’t think it is worth the money at all it just goes straight in the bin at my house. It is a stupid paper and half the things in it I have never heard of and never seen.

“It is a complete waste of money. I would rather have money off my council tax than receive this rubbish.”

Ms Saliba added: “They just tell you what they want, and if you do speak up you don’t get heard anyway.”

Joanna Welsh, didn’t know what the magazine was, she said: “I have never heard of it – but knowing how much is spent I think it is a really silly amount. A total waste of money.”

Sarah Moss and Martin Reeves backed these thoughts; they described the amount of money spent as ‘weird’ Ms Moss said: “We don’t bother with it – that is a lot of money to spend.”

Tony Burke suggested the best way forward would be to ‘get rid of it’ he said: “I don’t read it, I am not interested in it and it is a waste of our money.”

Annette Whitehead, said: “I have a flick through it when I get it but I believe spending money on this is ridiculous.”

Joe Simpson also backed these views, he said: “Why do they need 19 people in the media team? The cost is a complete rip off!”

What do you think? Do you read the magazine?