Council’s local culture website derelict since April – but still being plugged in Hackney Today

Destination Hackney has not been updated since April (Photo: Hackney Citizen)

Hackney Council’s local culture website Destination Hackney has not been updated since April 2017 – but residents are still being directed to read it to “keep up to date” on local news and events.

The most recent posts on Destination Hackney, which calls itself “a college of knowledge of all things Hackney”, are about “What’s on in Hackney this Bank Holiday weekend: 28 April to 1 May”.

But the council’s taxpayer-funded freesheet Hackney Today is still promoting the derelict website, with a front-page advert on the 25 September issue, and a page three plug for the site with the message, “Keep up to date”.

Hackney Today is promoting Destination Hackney on page 3

Destination Hackney’s Facebook page has only five posts since April, all with content from third party sources, while its Twitter page @LoveHackney retweets council and external content.

When asked by the Citizen about the lack of posts, Hackney Council said Destination Hackney was “migrating” to a new content management system.

A spokesperson said: “The content management system which Destination Hackney runs on is obsolete, so we’re currently migrating the website over to a platform, which the council intranet and main website already run on.”

Hackney Today is promoting Destination Hackney on its front page of its latest edition

Destination Hackney was launched in July 2012, with the website built in-house by the council and a £12,340 design by Four Communications.

It was paid for with funding from the central government’s Local Area Business Growth Incentive.

At the time, Hackney Council told the Citizen: “The site was first and foremost designed to support Hackney’s business community and local economy by helping to market the borough and its attractions to potential visitors and residents.”