A HEATED row erupted in Minehead Town Council Chamber on Tuesday night over “the perceived biased reporting in recent editions of the West Somerset Free Press”.
The mayor Cllr Jean Parbrook, leader of the Conservative majority, accused former mayor Cllr Terry Venner of ignoring the council’s press and media policy by using language “denigrating the majority of this council and their democratically reached decisions”.
She also accused Cllr Venner of speaking to the Free Press without following the “proper procedure” by not first consulting her, the clerk or deputy mayor.
“I was expressing my own personal views, not those of the council,” Cllr Venner replied.
“If you don’t like it, sorry about that. I don’t control what goes in the paper but I don’t want censorship.”
There was also a recommendation: “That the mayor and the clerk meet with the editor of the West Somerset Free Press to discuss open and free reporting.”
Full story in the Free Press