Denbighshire council rejects 'unsafe' evening meetings

Paul Penlington's call for evening meetings was opposed by Hugh Irving

A council has rejected calls to hold some meetings in the evening, amid claims they could be unsafe for older members driving home while tired.

Denbighshire councillors were told that morning meetings were inconvenient for people with jobs or children.

Paul Penlington, who has a job, said the council was a "retirement home".

But fellow councillor Hugh Irving cited a case in another council where a member died when his car ran off the road on his way home from a meeting.

A full meeting of the council on Tuesday debated a report that said the majority of members wanted to continue having all their meetings in the morning, unlike many neighbouring authorities.

Members voted against a recommendation from their own task-and-finish group to start one meeting a month at 16:00 GMT, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Penlington, a Labour councillor who has a full-time job, was heckled as he claimed the council had not "asked the public what they think".

"Over 50% of the population of Denbighshire live on the coast, 76% are below retirement age," he said.

"Morning meetings are not convenient to the vast majority if they want to come and attend. We very rarely get members of the public in here."

Mr Penlington added that the policy of daytime meetings could also limit the range of people willing and able to stand for election to the council.

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But Mr Irving, a Conservative, warned that holding meetings later could lead to unintended and potentially fatal consequences.

"I think it's unsafe to expect members from either the extreme south or the extreme north of the county to make [evening] journeys at this time of the year," he said.

"And I well remember a north Wales example of a prominent councillor of another authority who actually ran off the road on his way home from a meeting and died."