Geoff Helisma
Councillor Bill Day has successfully lobbied six councillors to hold a workshop “to review current CVC advertising policies and expenditures”.
Councillors Karen Toms and Debrah Novak opposed Cr Days’ notice of motion (NOM) at the June CVC meeting; the workshop will also “consider advertising DAs (development applications) and other appropriate items in the highest circulating free, printed, local, weekly newspaper, the Clarence Valley Independent”.
In 2020, the Independent reported that the NSW Government Office of Local Government (OLG) advised in its April 17 circular to NSW councils that it had made a “modification of statutory [advertising] requirements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“…in response to the closure of some local newspapers and to assist councils to reduce their costs, the Local Government (General) Regulation 2005 (the Regulation) has been amended to remove requirements for newspaper advertising,” the circular stated.
“This amendment is not temporary and will continue to apply after the COVID-19 pandemic passes.”
At that time (April 2020) then CVC general manager Ashley Lindsay said that the council will “need to review our position regarding the advertising of statutory information”.
In July 2020, Mr Lindsay said CVC was “still reviewing [its] options”, however, come October 2020, CVC confirmed that it would not resume “on exhibition and development application” advertising in printed mediums.
Cr Day wrote in his NOM that when CVC stopped advertising DAs “in printed local newspapers when the Daily Examiner ceased printing, [that] many local people are either unable, or do not prefer to access this information electronically”.
“Significant numbers of local people depend on CVC information such as DAs being flagged in their local newspaper, and this often alerts them to make further enquiries (possibly via the CVC website), he wrote.
“The CV Independent has wide distribution.
“Council advertising will help to ensure that we retain a printed local newspaper.”
During debate, Cr Toms said she found it “a little bit concerning that most of the arguments are hearsay about things in the past” and that “going back to print” would be a “retrograde step”.
“I hope the local paper survives,” she said. “I always grab one every Wednesday, but it’s important that we … don’t use ratepayers’ money to advertise on paper”, and to “remember we are here to be efficient and use money wisely … when things are changed by a higher authority than us”.
Cr Peter Johnstone said he “thought Cr Toms raised some good points”, but he welcomed the opportunity “to brainstorm”.
“There’s nothing lost if we have a discussion … some really good ideas might come out,” he said.
Cr Novak described Cr Day’s NOM as an “opinion piece”.
“The actual motion I support, but I think it could be tightened up a lot better,” she said.
Deputy mayor Greg Clancy supported the workshop idea and said, “We need to think about how we want to speak to the broader community.”
Councillors will discuss several other related items at the workshop – that: “All details of the proposed CVC quarterly magazine be included in this review and that further work on this project be suspended prior to this workshop;
“This workshop be held as soon as possible, but within 30 days;
“The results of the workshop be submitted to Council as a report; and,
“The report be put as an agenda item to the Economic and Tourism Advisory Committee.”
The workshop, to be held within 30 days from June 28, had not yet convened at the time of writing.