Council Meetings To Go Live

Plans were unveiled, at last nights Bedford Borough Council Executive meeting, which could see Council meetings covered live on the web.

The plans which would see web cameras fitted to the council chambers would provide easy access for members of the public to see and hear exactly what goes on at the Council.

Cllr Michael Headley, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, who proposed the idea, said :

"This is an important step forward in making the Council more open. It will allow the public easy access to council meetings without having to leave their homes. We have looked at Web Cams as a low cost plan to extend democracy so that councillors become more accountable to the people who elected them. Live meetings will allow the public to see and hear the outcome of many important debates ranging from the setting of the Borough Councils Budget to the result of local planning decisions. We realise there is a need to make it as easy as possible for the public to be more involved in the workings of the Council."

Bedford Borough Council will be one of the first Councils in the country to trial Web Cam technology at its meetings.