Councillor calls for better acoustics if live meetings return

A LEEDS councillor has called for the Civic Hall’s historic council chamber to have its acoustics improved, as it is difficult for members to hear one another during meetings.

It follows a Government ruling that council meetings must once again take place in person. Councils had permission to meet remotely via video conferencing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A report by council officers shows the response to remote meetings among council members was “unexpectedly positive”, with many wishing they would continue.

Speaking at a meeting of Leeds Council’s General Purposes Committee, Coun David Jenkyns (Lab) stressed that, if meetings had to take place in person, that the council chamber – which hosts larger council meetings – should have its acoustics improved.

He said: “We had a plans panel meeting in the council chamber and it was quite hard to hear people. The planning officer said that, in 1930, they had to suspend meetings because of the acoustics not being good enough, and I don’t think much has changed.” Leeds Civic Hall was built in 1930 by Armitage and Hodgson. It was given Grade II-listed status in 1976. The council’s deputy leader Coun Debra Coupar (Lab), inset, added: “With the Covid pandemic, we are not supposed to shout loudly either, because of the impact that might have on spreading infections.”

The Government announced that from May 17, all formal meetings of council committees must take place with all participants in physical attendance.

But, under Covid-19 requirements, a risk assessment needs to take place to make sure that proceedings are conducted in a safe way.