Never let facts get in the way of a good story: EADT says East Anglian ‘house prices rising’
The splash in the East Anglian Daily Times yesterday looked like good news for anyone int he paper’s circulation area trying to sell a house, with its headline: House prices rising.
Pity for them it was not true that “house prices are on the rise in East Anglia”. They had risen by 0.8% in a year, the paper said.
This figure, in Land Registry statistics, was for the eastern region, which includes Hertofrdshire and Bedfordshire.
The figure for Suffolk was that there had been no change in the past year and in Norfolk they had risen by an insignificant 0.2%.
Taking inflation into account, prices have fallen in real terms in both counties.
The figures and statistical methods are complicated but it seems that the most significant element of what rises there have been is for very expensive houses.
In July the number of houses sold in England and Wales for over £1m doubled to 562.
I can see how the EADT made its mistake as the press release from the Land Registry only gave regional figures. But I would have expected any reporter working in Suffolk to know the difference between the east and East Anglia.
A simple phone call to the Land Registry would inevitably led them to the full report with its house price index figures for most counties.
Libraries have big economic value and boost house prices, US report
Suffolk County Council did not commission an independent economic impact study of our libraries before taking an axe to spending on them. Philadelphia has conducted an enquiry, by the the University of Pennsylvania, and found its libraries created more than $30 million worth of economic value in the 2010 financial year.
The American Libraries Magazine says:
Particularly noteworthy is the library’s impact on business development and employment, which has rightfully become an ongoing national concern. Survey respondents reported that they couldn’t have started, sustained, or grown an estimated 8,600 businesses without the resources they accessed at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Direct economic impact: Almost $4 million.
Librarians have come to expect that data will back up their positive effect on the creation of jobs (1,000 found work thanks to FLP [Free Library of Philadelphia] resources, pumping $30 million in salaries into the economy) and tax revenue ($1.2 million) in a given community. The Fels [university institute] study also offered a pleasant surprise: Researchers found that Philadelphia homes located within a quarter-mile of a branch library were worth an average of $9,630 more than homes outside that radius.
While this is an American report on free libraries in a major city the findings are fascinating (download a copy). At the very least they suggest that the county council should have carried out a proper investigation before deciding on cuts.
The consultation on Suffolk libraries is now open. I am not going to engage in in their options which make a mockery of the word consultation. But I will respond saying they need to go back to the drawing board.
Kathy Pollard, leader of the Lib Dem and Independent group on the council, also makes the good point that Suffolk libaries are among the cheapest in the country to run.
The American Libraries Magazine says: “As stressed as U.S. libraries have been by the economic downturn, the crisis seems to pale in comparison to public libraries in Britain”
Later: The East Anglian Daily Times is running a story headlined Suffolk: Why can Norfolk protect ibraries and school crossing patrols yet we can’t. Norfolk has larger cuts to make and the paper highlights the much more meaningful public consultations carried out by the northerly neighbour.
- Will you join me in saying ‘No’ to the ‘feudal concept’ of adding a gratuity?One of the nice things about eating in pubs is that you do not have to worry about the awkward moment at the end when your card is put into the machine to pay. They do not ask for a tip in pubs, do they? Well, if it is the Plough and Sail at Snape […]
- Blog launched to defend Southwold High StreetWelcome to the new blog, Look After Southwold, which launched yesterday in the wake of Waveney District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a Costa coffee shop in the High Street. I fear that once one of the chains gets in others see that as their research done and follow. Look After Southwold will […]
- @ben4ipswich MP tweets a lot but fails to update websiteIpswich Spy is having a go at Ipswich MP, Ben Gummer, for not updating his web site with sufficient frequency. “Mr Gummer is, once again, failing to communicate,” it says of the lack of post on his blog since January. Failing to communicate through his web site is certainly true but there are other ways […]
- The Costa wars: Battles for individuality from Southwold to TotnesApocalyptic stories in the papers today. “Anger spilled onto the streets of Southwold after a national coffee chain was allowed to open in the town centre,” according to the East Anglian Daily Times. “The locals of Totnes have gone to war,” says the Guardian. Can the Costa riots be far away? In both towns there […]
- Seckford boss resigns from Suffolk libraries boardSeckford Foundation boss Graham Watson has resigned from the board of Suffolk Libraries. He was one of the directors nominated by community groups. One of the foundation directors appointed by the County Council, Clive Fox from Aldeburgh, resigned as chairman of Suffolk’s Libraries Industrial and Provident Society in March but said he would remain on […]
- Archant sacks circulation boss for fiddling figuresThe circulation director of Archant newspapers in Norfolk has been sacked for gross misconduct — falsifying sales figures. Don Williamson was about to retire and had enjoyed his farewell party before going on holiday. On his return, presumably to clear his desk, he was called in by chief executive Adrian Jeakings and fired. Advertising […]
- County council failed to heed warning before pursuing bloggerA senior officer of Suffolk County Council did not follow internal advice which would have avoided it being accused of trying to “censor the free media“, a Freedom of Information response has revealed. The incident arose from a Downfall video parody posted on his blog by James Hargrave who is both a governor of […]
- How social media brought Trayvon’s shooting to world attentionThe fascinating story of how the shooting of a teenager in Florida became an international news story, is told by Kelly McBride, a journalist working for the Poynter Institute. She writes: Ten years ago Trayvon Martin’s family would have had a hard time getting the national media’s attention. But with the help of a […]
- Blogger told ‘we are monitoring you for defamation’For any journalist to get a message from an organisation he or she is writing about saying they monitoring what is written about them for defamation, is an endorsement. It usually means the journalist is getting things right and the organisation has poor media relations advice. And now it has happened to Suffolk “citizen […]