Buller Council Defends Controversial Advertising Deal

Friday, 28 February 2025, 6:55 pm
Article: Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter

The Buller District Council is to review a controversial decision over its newsletter and advertising, but there's no guarantees it will change its position.

Council staff signed an agreement last November to move the council’s Connect newsletter and some advertising to The Messenger - a free monthly paper published by the Greymouth Star.

It had previously been written by council staff, printed in Greymouth and mailed out to Buller residents.

The change sparked protest in the Westport community and dismay from The News - also known locally as the Westport News - itself.

The independent, locally-owned paper was now fighting for its life, it said.

Council staff had not given The News a chance to quote for the work and without council advertising its future looked bleak, said editor and co-owner Lee Scanlon at the time.

At an open workshop on Wednesday, February 26, Buller District Council staff laid out for councillors the context and reasons behind the decision to go with an out-of-town paper.

Communications and Engagement manager Nicola Woodward said the council was trialling new ways of engaging with the community, and its ratings had shot up since its website was redeveloped.

But print was still important and in the past its Connect newsletter had been its main method of getting stories out, she said.

“It was printed in Greymouth; it was only being delivered three times a year and the cost of this increased. The result was less and outdated information by the time it got out.”

That was reflected in a council customer survey: only 52 percent of respondents had been satisfied with the level of information they were getting from the council, Ms Woodward said.

By switching to The Messenger, the council had increased the content going out to the community by 45 percent, and it was more current, she said.

“Because it goes out monthly it’s more up to date information, it’s more relevant, and it’s easier to produce because its quick content, so it saves staff time.”

The Messenger had also increased the number of copies in circulation to 4500, with 80 pickup points in Buller.

The council had not moved all its advertising to the Messenger, Ms Woodward said.

It was still placing statutory notices in the Westport News, and had placed more ads last year because of council water restrictions, she said.

Councillor Graeme Neylon asked why staff had not engaged with The News, when they were considering a move to The Messenger.

Community Service manager Krissy Trigg said the council had been looking for a free publication that would deliver the best access to people in Buller and The News did not have a free paper.

Mr Neylon asked if staff had considered whether The News might have created a free publication, had it been approached.

Ms Trigg said staff had followed the council’s procurement policy: the Connect contract was low value and low risk which allowed them to source a provider directly.

Councillor Annalise Phahlert said the community had struggled with that decision.

The procurement policy talked about prioritizing local providers and a strong focus on local business, she said.

“People fear that was not respected and will happen again. If you were to do this again, would you offer the Westport News the opportunity to submit on this, even though they don’t have a free paper?” she asked.

Buller District Council chief executive Simon Pickford said he thought the council would.

“To be honest, this is a low value procurement so we wouldn’t go to a tender – it just wouldn’t be cost effective. But we certainly would have a conversation with the News or any other provider who could set up a free newspaper and deliver 4000 copies."

Cr Neylon said the decision had caused angst in the community and asked if the plan should have first gone to councillors for approval.

Chief Executive Simon Pickford said internal strategies did not normally go to the council table for a vote.

"But it could have been done better...we could have brought it to you prior and apologies for that."

There had been no fundamental change in the council’s deal with the Westport News, he said.

“It was a small shift. As you see our placement of ads and our spend has gone up (in the past year) – but certainly when we come to the end of the year and this trial we will assess what our needs are."

Speaking after the workshop, Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said the council had been paying a Greymouth printer about $8000 a year to produce the Connect newsletter and the new Messenger deal was competitive and more effective.

Buller District Council was still paying the Westport News between $15,000 and $20,000 a year for advertising, similar to its usual spend, he said.

“Essentially, the News has lost nothing except the chance to bid on a service it does not currently offer, that is running the newsletter in a free monthly newspaper like the Messenger, with a much higher circulation.”

The Council's priority had to be value for money and reaching as many ratepayers as possible, the Mayor said.

But the council would always support local business where it could and it had never been the plan to cut the News out of its advertising budget, the mayor said.

In response, Westport News editor Lee Scanlon said a council staff report at the time told a different story.

All Buller council meeting advertising, information advertising and Connect would be consolidated into a one-two-page monthly spread in the Messenger, Scanlon said, quoting the report.

The News would be used only for statutory emergency notices, the executive report summary said.

The fact that this had not happened was perhaps the result of the community response and the public outcry that followed her paper's publication of those emails, she said.

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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