£4k bill to ‘set record straight’ on arena claim
MANCHESTER council spent nearly £4,000 “setting the record straight” on plans for a new concert venue after “outrageous and misleading” flyers were sent to thousands of homes by Manchester Arena owners - sparking outrage at the town hall.
Arena chiefs had said they hadn’t intended to mislead with the flyer - which was sent to nearly 6,000 households and suggested that the town hall would be investing in the arena.
But the town hall said it felt the need to clarify claims made in the leaflet - including the suggestion that the council could partially fund a new 20,000-seater venue in the east of the city.
The council spent £3,944.05 writing to more than 7,000 homes near the Etihad campus, saying that the letter from SMG - which opposes a new rival arena - was “misleading and inaccurate”.
It’s though to be the first time the town hall has ever sent out its own mail drop to respond to claims made by a PR firm.
Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “In this case we felt it absolutely necessary to write to Eastlands residents to set the record straight following the leaflet drop by SMG and their PR team that spread factually incorrect information about future development in their area, and whose main aim was to worry local people unnecessarily and unfairly.”
The dispute boiled over in a meeting in July when Sir Richard said the leaflet had unfairly impacted the responses to a recent consultation on the future of the Eastlands.
Last week, the PR firm behind the leaflet drop was cleared by the industry watchdog PRCA after an investigation.
The watchdog’s chairman said the committee found that FleishmanHillard Fishburn gave its clients “sound advice” in accordance with the industry code of conduct and was ‘not responsible for misleading the public’.
Any plans for the arena are currently in early stages.