 ITV restructuring plans "still disappointing"
South West Devon Labour Party have branded ITV’s latest plans to restructure local TV news “still disappointing”.
After a six month consultation on plans to cut down ITV’s 15 regions to nine super-regions the Labour Party was hoping ITV would bow to public pressure and drop plans to merge ITV Westcountry with
TV news for Bristol.
Luke Pollard, Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for South West Devon, pictured below, said, “We have been campaigning on this issue on the streets of Plympton, Plymstock and the South
Hams for six months now and we have only found one person who supports ITV’s plans and that was Michael Grade, ITV’s Chairman! Despite assurances that Plymouth’s news will be safeguarded, it is
patently obvious that merging Westcountry news with news for Bristol will cut down on the amount of local coverage our area receives at present. ITV’s plans are disappointing.”
“These plans must now be sent to Ofcom, the television regulator, for approval. If the regulator were to spend one day in Plymouth they would soon find that local people not only disagree with
ITV’s plans to close the studio in Plympton but most strongly object to it.” 
Labour intends to carry on its campaign and insist that it will fight to maintain local news rather than see yet another South West service sucked into Bristol. Labour has long argued that
the Devon and Cornwall Peninsula needs a strong media presence to help ensure Plymouth, as the sub-Region's most powerful economic driver, achieves and maintains the recognition of its
importance which it deserves.
To find out more about the campaign to Save ITV Westcountry click here: www.lukepollard.net/news.htm
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