Runnymede Borough Council votes against livestreaming meetings
- Published
Plans to livestream Runnymede Borough Council meetings were deemed too expensive
A council has voted against making meetings available to watch online.
The motion to "empower" communities was thrown out after it was deemed too expensive and lacked public interest.
A Runnymede Borough Council meeting heard that proposals would cost £30,000 to buy hardware and a further £12,000 in annual running costs.
Councillor Isabel Mullens, who presented the motion, said it was "an essential building block to modern democracy".
Ms Mullens, who is leader of the Runnymede Independent Residents' Group, said her proposals would allow members of the public who could not attend the council chamber "to see and hear the decision making process".
She added that it would reduce traffic by giving people the option to watch from home rather than drive, and increase options for people living with disabilities to be involved in the democratic process.
Scott Lewis, Conservative councillor for Woodham and Rowtown and vice chair of the overview and scrutiny committee, said he would not vote to spend that amount of money when there front line services for residents that needed to be protected.
He described it as a "waste of the public purse".
The motion was dismissed after a vote of 21 to 15 with one abstention.
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