PRESSURE is mounting on the council to scrap its controversial freesheet in the wake of widespread public service cuts.
The Labour-led council produces Waltham Forest News (WFN) every two weeks and distributes it to every household in the borough.
The freesheet includes news, views and events and costs £400,000 per year to produce.
And although the council claims the paper pays for itself via advertising, those adverts are mainly for public service bodies – paid for by the taxpayer.
Conservative councillor Darshan Sunger argues the “one sided” council paper is a waste of money and says it should be scrapped.
Cllr Sunger said: “We need the leader to justify the existence of WFN.
“It is costing almost half-a-million pounds a year. The cost is not justifiable.
“How can the council keep it, especially when they are talking about making budget cuts and people are losing their jobs?
“Plus, the paper doesn't do its job because it is one sided. It is promoting itself and saying what a good job they are doing, but they don't say the other side if they are not doing a good job.”
The council agreed to axe 600 posts in October, but that figure is expected to rise significantly. It is also scrapping educational support staff, public toilets and road safety schemes in schools.
Cllr Sunger, who represents Hale End and Highams Park, is tabling a question to council leader Chris Robbins at a meeting of the full council next month.
He said: “Why do we need WFN when we already have a local paper, the Waltham Forest Guardian?”
Conservative leader Matt Davis said: “Cutting the newspaper has been in our budget for the last four years. At a time of stringent finances there are better uses of the money.”
But Waltham Forest Council leader Chris Robbins said after research with residents they found that the paper was the preferred and most used source of information about the council.
He added: “The paper offers good value for money and pays for itself through advertising, in addition because the other local papers covering the borough have a limited circulation it would cost us a considerable amount of money to inform every resident in Waltham Forest of changes to services by, for example, using leaflets.”
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