10/03/2026
Help this make sense …
The newly appointed “Comms Officer”, the new Lyn Valley News and more virtue-signalling from the Council …. because from this perspective, it feels like …
→ money is being taken out of Lynton & Lynmouth via the precept to pay for this role, then
→ the salary from this role is immediately leaving our towns and heading to Appledore or elsewhere, then
→ we’re asked to pay again via advertising and event tickets, then
→ we’re told that a small margin will “come back” to the community as “profit”.
This isn’t an attack, it’s a genuine request for a clear explanation in plain English from our Town Council.
First, a quick word on the “precept”, because a lot of people may not know what it is.
On your Council Tax bill there are different slices: County, District, Police, Fire… and a small line for the Town/Parish Council. That small line is the precept – the amount Lynton & Lynmouth Town Council chooses to take from every household each year to fund its own spending: the Town Hall, toilets, staff, projects, and now a Communications & Marketing Officer.
This year, that Town Council slice has gone up by about 36%. So even if the pound amount looks small on the bill, the jump is very big.
The new Lyn Valley News says that “all profits the LVN makes from advertising will go back into community projects.”
On the face of it, that sounds great. But when you line that up with what we know, it gets harder to follow.
From our another perspective, it looks like:
→ The Communications & Marketing Officer role – which includes producing the newsletter – is being paid for by the community through that 36% precept rise, at around £18,000 a year including on-costs.
→ That salary is going to someone some 25 miles away, or more – disappointingly not a Lynton & Lynmouth local, not an Exmoor local.
→ According to the Town Hall’s own write-up, this part-time role is also supposed to arrange and promote weddings, dances, parties, markets and community events at the Town Hall, and “help us shine a brighter spotlight on everything L&L” through wider digital marketing.
→ The same person is then tasked with selling adverts in the LVN and raising extra income from events and Town Hall activity – money that will largely come from local residents and businesses.
→ After printing and other direct costs, whatever’s left from those adverts is being described as “profit” that will “go back into community projects.”
So, very simply:
→ We pay more Council Tax to fund the role and the newsletter (via the precept).
→ Local businesses and groups then pay again to advertise in it and attend the events.
→ And a small slice of what’s left is badged as “profit for community projects.”
Maybe there’s a solid justification for this structure. If there is, it hasn’t been explained.
Some straightforward questions:
→ What is the full annual cost of running the LVN, including a realistic share of the Comms Officer’s time and on-costs, not just the print bill?
→ Why is a precept-funded “community” role not rooted in the community it’s meant to serve? In a valley full of capable people, what effort was made to recruit locally, and why wasn’t that a visible priority?
And given this is an 18.5-hour-a-week post, how exactly is one part-timer meant to juggle:
→ a printed newsletter,
→ all the council’s comms and digital marketing,
→ sell weddings, arrange and promote parties, dances, markets and community events,
→ plus “shining a brighter spotlight on everything Lynton & Lynmouth”?
Has the Council also invested in a TARDIS?
If there’s a better, cleaner explanation that truly shows how this model leaves the community better off than simply funding the Hall and projects directly, residents deserve to hear it.
