Technical problems at council's new HQ will 'take time' to resolve
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Conwy Council said it will take time to adapt to its new council chamber after the move to its Coed Pella HQ after 30 years at Bodlondeb – following official complaints from councillors about technical issues. Earlier this week, despite spending around £700K on kitting out Coed Pella and its new council chamber with modern equipment, the first council meeting was plagued with technical issues.
The Welsh-to-English translation suffered from interference, meaning councillors could not be heard, whilst microphones completely dropped out. This meant those watching online had no idea what was being said at the public meeting.
Councillors, including Cllr David Carr, have since complained, calling the problems "not good enough". Conwy County Council has now said "refinements" are needed. A council spokeswoman commented: 'We've had feedback from Cllr Carr and other councillors following the first meeting at Coed Pella. Sign up for the North Wales Live newslettersent twice daily to your inbox.
'This has included positive comments as well as highlighting some issues, so we're aware that some small refinements to the new systems may be necessary. It must be remembered that adapting to a new system takes time for everyone.
"The meeting was open to the public to attend at Coed Pella. The statement on the front of agendas states: 'WEBCASTING This meeting will be filmed for live and/or subsequent broadcast on the council's website'.
'The legal requirement is to offer hybrid meeting arrangements for formal democratic meetings (allowing councillors to choose whether to attend in person or remote in). There is a difference between holding a hybrid meeting and livestreaming. There is a statutory requirement to broadcast full council meetings only, but Conwy aims to livestream all its meetings.'
She added: 'The guidance issued by Welsh Government recognises that on occasion there could be instances where livestreams fail and local authorities should have arrangements in place to upload recordings if at all possible.'
Cllr David Carr was one of the councillors who complained about the issue. He said: 'I was disappointed that my comments weren't heard online.
"The people in the room, I think, heard me. When I watched what I'd said online, a lot of what I said the microphones didn't pick up. It is absolutely not good enough.
"Really, we've got to get these things right. I've flagged it up with democratic services. All members need to be heard. It should have been tested before the meeting, and I've asked them to look and find a solution because it is not acceptable.'
He added: 'Obviously, you might get teething problems, but they've put it out online with large chunks of what I've said missing. Cllr Cheryl (Carlisle), her microphone wasn't working.
"Cllr Louise (Emery), some of what she said, the microphone wasn't working. Anybody watching that online would think what did those people say?
"Well, I'm not making any allegations, but it was opposition members that it happened to. I'm not making any allegations. It's obviously technical problems. But the way it worked out was opposition members (comments) weren't online.'
Cllr Carr said his comments that went unheard online related to his opinion that the council had spent money on "a pointless communication strategy". The Old Colwyn councillor explained he told the chamber that the council were investing in "non-essential services" when there were issues with frontline services, such as bin collections.
'The communication strategy, if you go onto the council website, most of it (the information) is pointless,' he said. 'There is information like close the gates when you are in the countryside and it is national tea day today on the website.
"The council are spending on that. It is not relevant to what we do as a council. Something that is relevant is when we had problems with the blue bin collections. I did ask them to use the website to let residents know what to do with the nappies. But they wouldn't use it for that because it is bad publicity for the council.'
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