Planning Notices: Government To Consider Impact On Local Newspapers
Government will consider the impact on transparency, local democracy and local newspapers’ revenues “before any decisions are taken” about potential changes to the planning regime, Ministers have said.
The News Media Association has warned that proposals to remove the statutory requirement on local authorities to publish planning notices in local newspapers will damage local democracy and disenfranchise millions of people who rely on newspapers for the information.
Additionally, revenue from public notices is an important stream of income for many local and regional publishers and the withdrawal of public notices from print newspapers could even prove fatal to financially fragile local publishers.
MPs have tabled Parliamentary written questions asking Ministers about the impact removing planning notices from local newspapers and would have on local democracy and revenues supporting local journalism.
Responding to a question from Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South, Minister for Media and Data John Whittingdale said the impact on local newspapers of any changes would be considered as part of the process.
He said: “We are mindful of the potential impact that any changes to the requirements might have on transparency and local democracy, as well as the potential effect on local newspaper revenue.
“Indeed the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism found that statutory notices, including planning notices, provide an important strand of revenue for many local publishers and that their withdrawal would do serious damage to parts of the sector.
He added: “We recognise the importance of local newspapers to communities and the continued need to reach out to people who cannot digitally access information.
“MHCLG is considering consultation responses and will publish a response in due course, and the impact on transparency and local democracy, as well as on local newspaper revenue will be considered before any decisions are taken.”
Responding to a different question from Helen Hayes, Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, MHCLG Minister Chris Pincher said the Government recognised the importance of local newspapers to communities.
He said: “The use of digital tools is important to be able to standardise and improve the user interface where local people seek to engage in the planning system. It is not a replacement for engagement but is a tool to make this engagement more transparent and more accessible to all parts of communities across England.
“This is particularly the case for publicity of planning applications where we want to see greater digital coverage, and we will be exploring the best way of doing that as we develop our proposals over the next year. In doing so, we recognise the importance of local newspapers to communities and that there will continue to be a need to reach out to people who cannot digitally access information.”