Rochdale Council 'partner' supporting markets in … Bury and Calderdale!

Link4Life

In yet another kick in the teeth for Rochdale town centre the Lib Dem controlled council's leisure trust is advertising rival markets in Bury and Calderdale.

The news follows the council advertising Todmorden and Hebden Bridge markets on council employee payslips, and another council 'partner', Rochdale Town Centre Management, having its printing done in Halifax.

Link4Life the council's 'partner' has full page adverts for the rival markets in its quarterly 'Preview' publication; to compound an already diabolical state of affairs, the sale of adverts in the magazine is outsourced to a company in... Halifax. Making matters even worse the company is part of the Johnston Press media group, competitors of the media employers in Rochdale.

Following the revelation by Rochdale Online last month that the council was advertising Hebden Bridge and Todmorden markets, Finance Portfolio holder Greg Couzens rushed out a statement saying: “Quite clearly the council does not agree that advertising markets outside of the borough is helpful for local businesses and I will personally ensure that once the contract has ceased, the first advert to be in the new payslips will be one encouraging staff to shop local.”

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news/25658/rochdale-council-supporting-markets

Rochdale Council quickly backtracked. When asked for clarification, Councillor Couzens said via a spokesman for the Council communications: “Commercial advertising opportunities are looked at on a case by case basis and we propose to continue with this approach."

And here we see the result of the stupidity of the Lib Dem council forgetting its purpose, to deliver services to local people, and seeking to reposition itself as a competitor to local businesses, advertising yet more rival markets.

Conservative Leader Ashley Dearnley was again incredulous when asked by Rochdale Online for his response to the advertising of yet more rival markets, he reiterated what he said to Rochdale Online following the revelations last month: “This is unbelievable; the council should be promoting the markets in this borough not those in nearby towns.

“The council is clearly completely out of control, council officers are doing as they please and the Lib Dem cabinet, who should be keeping them in check, do not have a clue what is going on. This is the worst I have ever known the council.”

Craig McAteer, Managing Director, Link4Life said: “The Preview magazine has been running successfully for many years and has accepted commercial advertising during this time. We are now looking at how best to progress the publication in the future, and will be meeting with the council very shortly regarding this.”

Councillor Colin Lambert said: "When is the current leadership going to get a grip of the situation?

"For all the talk and spin that they are doing everything to promote jobs and prosperity in the borough, we have yet another example of putting the borough businesses and jobs last not first.

"We moved at the budget setting this year that the council magazine ' local matters' should be published just once a year this would save £100,000 of tax payers money, if the magazines are to be self financing then local business should be approached."