Council Leader's "arrogance"

Councillor Colin Lambert

The leader of Rochdale Borough Council has snubbed an approach that sought to bring about mediation in a dispute between the Council and Rochdale Online. Councillor Colin Lambert refused to meet and discuss his "anti-media stance".

Many people are outraged at such childish conduct and questions have been asked of the Council via websites and area forums - the questions have not been answered.

Two weeks ago we revealed the bullying, anti-democratic stance of Rochdale Borough Council and its discriminatory treatment of Rochdale Online. We explained that the Council has unilaterally decided not to issue media releases to us or respond to our enquiries, despite such action being against the Local Authority Code of Conduct and the Council's own Media Protocol.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/127/council-watch/75582/council-bullying-revealed

Councillor Dale Mulgrew took the matter directly to the top, he explained that having had a complaint from one of his constituents relating to "the council not professionally working with a local media outlet which that person valued" [Rochdale Online], he wanted to corroborate the main point of the complaint, so sought clarification from the Council on whether this allegation was true or not. The office of the Chief Executive responded and confirmed the Council was not working with Rochdale Online.

Councillor Mulgrew concluded that this was not in the best interests of the Rochdale public and thus took it upon himself to see if he could commence a dialogue between the Council Leader, senior representatives from the Council, delegates from Rochdale Online and the other two party leaders. The office of the Chief Executive, Jim Taylor, came back and said the Leader of the Council, Colin Lambert, was not supportive of this reasonable approach.

Commenting on Councillor Lambert's refusal, Councillor Mulgrew said: "Councillor Lambert's sheer arrogance over this matter is staggering. To ignore my attempts to mediate is one thing, but to refuse to acknowledge there is a problem in the first instance shows just how out of touch he is with this situation.

"This shows Councillor Lambert is displaying the contagious 'New Labour' tendencies of media control. Well, I am proud of the way that our local media hold the Council to account. I myself have faced criticism in the past from the local media, but I am mature enough to realise that this is democracy at work. Without the Rochdale media the town would be poorer and individuals would not have the same level of awareness.

"The Leader's anti-media stance in this instance is incredible. I have now started an online petition on the council's own portal to re-iterate to the Leader that there is a problem here and I urge all users of Rochdale Online and their family and friends to sign this petition, so that the voice of reason can be heard."

NOTE: This petition (details below) is not yet available for people to sign as it is being reviewed by the Council's legal team.

Review ePetition
Title: Supporting Local Media Organisations

Statement:
We the undersigned petition the council to recognise the important role that local media organisations undertake for the citizens of Rochdale. We would like to see the council work with all local media organisations and if this is not happening we expect steps to be taken to ensure this situation ceases to continue.

Justification:
There is concern within Rochdale around the breakdown in relations between the Council and the local media organisation known as Rochdale Online.

Submitted by: Dale Mulgrew
Status: Requested
Date submitted: 11/12/2012