Devizes is to have its own equivalent of the BBC Parliament channel, as the town council is preparing to stage live broadcasts of its meetings.
Councillors took the first step towards launching a Live From The Town Hall show last night [Tues] when they agreed to buy a microphone system which, alongside video facility, will enable up to 75 meetings each year of committees, surgeries and assemblies of the full council to be streamed in broadcast quality into residents’ homes.
The town hall show could significantly increase the council’s audience, from the less than 20 residents who usually turn out to see councillors debate and decide on local matters to a potential reach of 41,000 households in the Devizes constituency.
The move to streaming council meetings on the council’s website and possibly via YouTube to its Facebook page, was revealed last night as members of the Community & Civic Resources Committee debated whether to invest in a new conference microphone system.
Last year councillors agreed to set aside £16,000 for a new sound system and officers were instructed to obtain three quotations. Although the lowest-priced, at £12,196, was way below the budget, there were concerns that it may not have been up to the council’s ambition to start streaming its own internet show.
“We want the streaming to be the highest quality, we don’t want to be getting complaints from residents,” said Cllr Ian Hopkins.
Other councillors agreed and, pending further enquiries by the town clerk into the technicalities of the system, they decided to favour a Bosch system costing £20,238, as the package was also the only one that included training for how to set up and use it. The committee agreed that they could find the extra £4,000 above budget from reserves.
The idea to broadcast town council meetings originated during Lockdown, when all council meetings had to be held of Zoom. Councillors became used to being on screen and it was decided to aspire to follow the example of Wiltshire Council, which live streams on YouTube its most important meetings.
Devizes councillors are attracted to the plan as it will enable many more rate-payers to become involved in the process of local government and what plans are being made for the town, without having to leave their armchair.
“A streaming service will give greater access to many residents and an opportunity to create more engagement and awareness of the council’s goals,” said Cllr Jonathan Hunter.
Cllr Hopkins added: “Streaming our meetings is definitely the way forward, I’d like to see as many people as possible seeing how the council works.”
Although no date has yet been set for the start of the council broadcasts, Cllr Hopkins said it was likely to be later this year.
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