Government to back local press on planning ads

Good news for the regional press. The Guardian reports today that the Government will safeguard £15m of regional newspaper advertising by ruling that councils will still have to advertise planning applications in the local press.
It says "Housing and planning minister John Healey is due to confirm today that the rules for local authorities advertising planning applications in local newspapers will not change.
"New guidelines will say that local authorities will still have to advertise in papers and councils will be required to publish information about planning applications on their websites."
The recent Killian Pretty Review recommended the removal of the mandatory requirement for local authorities to publish statutory planning notices in newspapers.
The Newspaper Society has been campaigning against the change. It argues that to withdraw the mandatory requirement for local authorities to place statutory notices in newspapers would have the effect of “undermining the public’s right to know”.