Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Broadcasting meetings is given mixed response
PL A NS to broadcast D u n de e C it y Co u nc i l meetings have been met with a mixed response from city residents.
Some readers told the Tele today they would tune in to broadcasted meetings, while others believe it would make no difference to the council’s decision-making process.
The Tele took to the streets to seek local opinion after claims from Councillor Fraser Macpherson that proposals to broadcast meetings might never see the light of day.
Debbie Hart, 54, from Kirkton said: “I think it’s a really good idea and I would definitely tune in after work if the council meetings were broadcast.
“You never get to see what is going on at the meetings, so it would be interesting to find out.”
Annemarie Small, 51, from Tayport echoed that view and would like to know whether any residents’ worries are actually taken on board.
She said: “I would watch them. You find out if councillors listen to people and take on board what people in Dundee want.”
Claire Naren, 45, from Stobswell added: “I would only tune in if the issues affected me but I think it’s a good idea.”
But student Connor Baldwin, 22, from Stobswell, said the idea isn’t something that would interest him.
He admitted: “I don’t have an interest in these things or much to do with politics, so I wouldn’t tune in.”
The city council’s SNP group claimed in its manifesto for the 2017 election that broadcasting meetings was something that it would look to push ahead with.
Calls for broadcasting came from then-SNP councillor Jimmy Black, who said the council needed to change the antiquated and secretive way it did business and he called for meetings to be broadcast.
Last week, Labour MSP Jenny Marra called on the city council to broadcast all official meetings online in a bid to promote “transparency and open government”.
She said making the workings of the local authority more accessible “would allow voters to see how and why decisions in Dundee are made”.
However, West End councillor Mr Macpherson claimed: “The omens are not promising, judging by recent feedback I have received from officers. There really is no progress some two years after the last election.”