Non-story of the week

I’ve been waiting for some reliable reporting of this week’s full council meeting at which the budget and council tax for Swindon Borough Council for the coming year were set. With only incomplete reporting available — the only aspect of the discussion reported was on proposals to cut the library service — there’s little information to go on. There are hints that a few minor changes to some proposals were made. After all the fuss over some of the proposals, it’s surprising that the outcome has received so little attention.

So what has been getting the attention of the Adver’s reporters? Today it has been the Richard Jefferies Museum where the concern is… well, nothing really. The headline:

Richard Jefferies’ home may be sold by council

The view of the councillor:

We’ve got no intentions of selling that site. That’s a worst case scenario. That’s a very long way down the line and that’s not going to happen. Clearly this is very much a cultural activity that we’d like to protect.

And the view of the secretary of the society that runs the museum:

We know that Swindon Borough Council do not want to lose it – this story is a bit premature.

Now whilst I don’t believe all that politicians say, when the group at risk also say there’s not a problem yet, that seems fairly clear evidence that there’s no story here, just a journalist’s wild imagination.