Motion submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 14 as to the Ending of the Practice of Using Council Street Furniture for the Displaying of Election Posters
To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Taylor and D Hall;
“This Council notes that:
The ‘Election Campaign Material Policy’ (last updated 24 January 2023) currently allows for small posters to be placed on the authority’s lamp posts.
The use of election posters on street furniture is mixed across Kirklees and political parties and there is no discernible correlation between those areas where posters are used and increased engagement or turnout. The policy distracts both Police and Council resources in needing to police it and where posters are used it can leave a place looking very untidy, especially when posters become defaced, damaged or start to peel. There are also issues about fairness in that posters cannot be installed in areas where streetlights are hosted in other ways, such as on telegraph poles, which means some more rural parts of the borough do not have the same level of Council support.
Their use is often hotly objected to by residents, especially where the poster is from a candidate the resident does not support, generating further work for Council Officers. Whilst there was a place for this type of advertising in the past, the current proliferation of media which are open to candidates to communicate their message to the electorate means that this is no longer the effective medium it may have been.
Furthermore, the Council does an excellent job in letting the public know when there is an election, and does so through a wide variety of media, as does the press, social media and political parties.
Removing the ability to erect posters on Council owned assets allows the following benefits:
• Reduces workload for Council staff and Police.
• Reduces the use of single use plastic (cable ties), which are often left to pollute the environment or remain around the lamppost.
• Frees up time for candidates and activists to engage with the public directly.
• Removes the health & safety issues and road safety issues associated with the erection and removal of posters.Frees up election expenses to be used to communicate directly with the electorate.
This Council therefore resolves to update the ‘Election Campaign Material Policy’ to remove the ability for parties to use Council street furniture for the displaying of election posters.”
Decision:
Item not considered (Meeting terminated in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 16:2).