Tl;dr - I refer the reader to Betteridge's law of headlines.
But if you have a few moments spare in your busy day, the answer in most cases is the same, however there's a more nuanced argument to the question than just a single word.
Whilst personas should never be seen as the be all and end all of content design, it can be helpful to picture fictionalised representations of real people who might be the audience for your content rather than creating in a complete vacuum
Many people think including niche content on a council website makes it hard to find essential information. I think including interesting content on it makes for a more useable site with a more delightful experience
Images of the area on the council website home page - something nice to see to give it a local flavour and instil 'delight', or an unnecessary distraction?
