Council meeting live on the net (From Stroud News and Journal)

Council meeting live on the net

COMPUTER owners across the globe will be able to watch a council meeting from the comfort of their own homes next week.

John Stephenson-Oliver, leader of Stroud District Council, will deliver his annual report live on the internet on Thursday, November 14 at 7pm.

Web cameras will broadcast the 30-minute speech followed by questions from other councillors.

Anyone can tune in to watch the live show or visit the site at www.stroud.gov.uk up to six months later to see a recording.

Viewers will also be able to make comments.

Stroud is the first council in the South West to provide the service, run by technological company UKCouncil, which broadcast Bill Clinton's landmark speech at the Labour Party conference in October.

Cllr Stephenson-Oliver said: "We want to make the council chamber accessible to everyone.

"I'm not sure if people are aware of how much we do.

"This is a really good opportunity to let them know what we've achieved in the last 12 months and what we plan for the future."

UKCouncil's Mark Nicole said: "The important thing is this technology can be accessed by the ordinary person.

"You don't need a state of the art computer. "Anyone with internet access can use it."

A council meeting in the UK attracts an average of seven members of the public. But UKCouncil's ten local authority websites have been visited by 30,000 people.

Anyone wanting to watch the speech needs to have speakers and RealPlayer software, which can be downloaded from the Stroud council site. This takes around 30 minutes.

The cost of the one-off scheme is said to be a low four-figure sum. If it is successful and the council decides to install a permanent system, it would be refunded this money and asked to pay £21,600 a year.

It could publish transcripts of speeches and offer a search facility for people to look up what their local councillor has said at recent meetings.

Within six to 12 months, every Stroud council meeting could be live on the web.

For more Stroud council stories see this week's SNJ.