Council adopts lamp post ad policy after Pride banner row

Earlier this year 30 Pride banners, funded after more than £8,000 flooded into an online collection, were put up all over Calderdale by the same company used by Calderdale Council for its own campaigns.

Organisers of the fundraising said they had agreed with the company for the banners to be up legally, in paid-for council-owned advertising spaces, for 12 months - so they should have been up until next summer.

But after having only been up for a few weeks, they disappeared, with Calderdale Reform then admitting they had ordered the banners’ removal.

Organisers of the banners are seeking legal advice.

Since the banner dispute, Calderdale Council has drawn up a policy which outlines its requirements for advertising on its property.

Chair of the governance and business committee Coun Phil Pringle (Reform, Greetland) urged members of the full Calderdale Council to approve it, and councillors agreed.

“Previously, there was no policy in place for advertising and sponsorship of council-controlled lamp posts,” he said.

It also had the potential to create additional revenue for the council, added Coun Pringle.

Coun Martin Hey (Green, Northowram and Shelf) said he had some concerns about the policy.

The list of exclusions does not go far enough, for example fossil fuel advertising, he said.

The policy sets out a list of advertising and sponsorship which would be banned from council spaces.

These include promotion of a political party, candidate or lobbying groups; food and drink that are high in fat, salt and/or sugar; alcohol; and any unproven health and weight loss products.

The policy says the list of prohibited products, services and organisations is not exhaustive and the council retains the right to decline any advertising with any organisation which the council considers “inappropriate or incompatible with its objectives”.