Colin Tapping was speaking to members of the council’s petitions committee, which met on Wednesday to discuss a 2,700-name petition, handed in in March, demanding that notices should be advertised in the Courant .
Former council chief executive Steven Mason axed local notices from the Courant last November, ordering them to be placed instead in the Alnwick-based Northumberland Gazette . The notices informed local people about planning applications and road closures
Mr Mason refused to reverse his decision, in spite of widespread pressure from across local communities, including many of his own councillors.
But in the wake of the Conservatives’ victory at the local elections last month, Mr Mason was ordered to put the notices back in the Courant . Mr Mason quit his role at the council soon afterwards.
Mr Tapping told the petitions committee that the Courant’s Your Right To Know campaign had highlighted that the ban on publishing notices amounted to an abuse of power and censorship.
“The action was an attack on the freedom of the press, and an attempt on the council’s behalf to avoid scrutiny, accountability and transparency – more in keeping with a dictatorship than the country which is the cradle of representative democracy.”
However, he acknowledged that now was the time to concentrate efforts on restoring the proper and constructive relationship local newspapers and local councils should have.
Committee chairman, Coun. Richard Dodd, acknowledged that the action against the Courant had been vindictive, but said the new administration had taken immediate action to rectify the situation.
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