It would seem that the recent newspaper reports about the anonymous letter campaign in Shiptonthorpe have forced the parish council to rethink their communications strategy.

Back in August councillors voted unanimously to adopt a new policy which stated that the council would not enter into any communication the media or anyone claiming to be a journalist.

I was therefore surprised to see Chairman Lambert responding to questions from the Daily Mail on Sunday. It now turns out that after being approached by a journalist in early September they voted to abandon the policy at their last meeting and instead agreed that Chairman Victor would speak for the council. No other Councillor would be permitted to speak to the press.

After Cllr Richard Waring posted on the Shiptonthorpe Residents Facebook page on Sunday that he feared more negative posts from a non-resident, the group admin announced on Tuesday that the group would become a members only group and that Cllr Ted Bowron would become an admin. Anyone who tries to join the group will have to answer three questions about where they live and all posts and comments will be moderated by Cllr Bowron.

This effectively means that all communication on the local Facebook groups is controlled by the parish council.

It looks as if only Chairman Lambert is allowed to post on the official Shiptonthorpe Council Facebook page and it is not possible for anyone to comment on anything he says or post any questions.

Members of the residents group have been asked to report any posts they think might be from a non-resident and to report anyone who might be a journalist.

The strange thing is that Cllr Ted Bowron lives in Market Weighton not Shiptonthorpe. It seems as if it’s a case of ‘do as we say not as we do’.