Local Lib Dems are calling for meetings of the B&NES Planning Committee to be webcast in a move that would bring the meetings in line with Council and Cabinet meetings.
Webcasting was introduced under the previous, Liberal Democrat administration, and the facility has been growing in popularity, with hundreds of residents tuning in to watch on a regular basis.
The Liberal Democrats had planned to extend the webcasting scheme to other B&NES meetings; now they are calling on the Conservative administration to take this next step in openness and transparency of decision-making.
Councillor Paul Crossley (Southdown), Liberal Democrat spokesperson on the planning committee, commented: “I strongly believe that decisions which affect the public should be made in public.
“The planning committee is a decision-making body, the same as the Council and the Cabinet, so it makes sense to extend the webcasting service to planning as with the Council and the Cabinet.
“The number of views of webcasts shows that this service is extremely popular with residents. Many more people are watching our meetings online than would be able to attend in person, due to lack of space, and webcasting is also a benefit to those who are unable to attend in person due to work commitments, caring responsibilities or difficulty in traveling.
“Planning committee meetings attract the most public interest out of any Council meeting.
“It’s well known that planning issues create strong passions, both for and against. Webcasting will help increase public awareness of the work this important committee does; it will also improve the public accountability of the 10 committee members who sit on it.
“There is really no reason to be reticent in extending webcasting. The new committee has good debates and so far has performed well.
“If the Liberal Democrats had won the recent elections we would have extended webcasting and so we call on the Conservative administration to follow suit.
“Let’s get on with making this meeting available to all those who cannot, for whatever reason, attend in person.”
