Congratulations to the Ventnor Town Council, who last night made a pioneering decision. At the Town Council meeting, it was unanimously agreed that their meetings could be audio recorded and subsequently broadcast on VentnorBlog.
The purpose of the recordings would be to enable those unable to attend the meeting to listen to the discussions taking place and hear how their councillor represents his/her constituents.
The question of recording the meetings was raised by Simon at the Annual Town Meeting back in April. Councillors then discussed it at the Annual Town Council meeting in May and agreed that John Farrant, the Town Clerk should pursue the matter with the Council’s legal department.
Legal Dept Say Yes
The Monitoring Officer was able to confirm that recordings could take place so long as all members were aware that they were being recorded and consented to it.
The approval, however, came with the condition that improper words should be deleted from the recording before it is broadcast, as well as removing any misleading statements.
Judgement on which words to remove would be made at the end of the meetings by the councillors. As for the issue of removing misleading statements, we’re sure that no councillor would even make one at a public meeting.
Three Cheers For Jonny
It’s not often that we praise the efforts of Jonny Fitzgerald Bond, but last night, as previously, he spoke enthusiastically in favour of the move to have recordings and went as far as securing both planning and town council meetings. Bet you never thought you’d hear us say it, but well done Jonny!
Pioneering Council
This decision is a great step forward for Ventnor Town Council. As far as we know, there are no other town council meetings currently being recorded and broadcast online on the Wight.
Image: Tanki
