OPPOSITION councillors and campaigners say they would like to see Coventry council’s planning committee meetings streamed live.
Council chiefs have told us they are aiming to webcast more meetings and will be reviewing the issue in due course.
The call came after Councillor Glenn Williams claimed he had waited more than three months for a recording he had requested for a meeting in December.
After the Coventry Observer also raised questions, Leader of the Coventry Conservatives Councillor Gary Ridley told us the policy to extend the webcast services will be in the Tory manifesto for the upcoming council elections.
He added that webcasting the meetings would give residents a greater chance to have their say in the planning process.
Other local authorities in the region such as Solihull Council webcast planning committee meetings.
Campaigner Peter Maddock – a vocal critic of the council’s housebuilding plans – says he supports the idea so residents can follow the debate and the reasoning for decisions.
Independent Coun Williams quizzed the planning committee chair Labour councillor Lindsley Harvard about whether he thought the three-month wait was acceptable.
Labour Coun Harvard responded to Coun Williams by saying he did not think webcasting planning committee meetings would be a good idea.
A council spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring the debates and decisions of council meetings are open and transparent and we currently webcast all full council meetings.
“We would like to extend this to other meetings and we will keep the issue under review.
“Planning Committee is audio recorded and can be made available on request. We try to sort requests as soon as possible.”
