Fix council microphones (From Penarth Times)

Fix council microphones

7:00am Thursday 13th September 2012 in Letters

I ATTENDED last week’s Vale council planning meeting. There was a large agenda with several controversial items. The meeting was held in the chamber, and in the public gallery it was literally standing room only.

At the commencement of the meeting the chairman announced there were no microphones. There was also an issue of lighting over the powerpoint display – despite efforts by one member, this was not resolved. While it was possible to hear the odd word from councillors that spoke, none stood up to project their voices to the best possible advantage. As for the officers – all I could hear were murmurs and mumbles. The council has just reconvened after the summer recess so there is no excuse for the audio and visuals not to be in proper working order – it’s just basic good housekeeping. Planning matters affect people’s lives.

As members of the public we are not permitted to speak at meetings without obtaining the prior discretionary permission of the chairman – which is bad enough – but now it appears that we are also not permitted to hear or see.

I hope that this letter will precipitate the appropriate works being undertaken in the chamber as a matter of urgency. And whilst doing so, could they please also address the longstanding audio problems in the committee rooms.

In this day and age of high-tech there really is no excuse.

Jean Underdown