When eventually it became possible to see the note of the Pre-Inquiry Case Management Conference it could be seen that a decision had been taken not to livestream the hearings.
Inquiries were made of the Planning Inspectorate and brought the following reply.
The Inspector has asked me to respond as follows:
The Council is responsible for organising all accommodation and facilities for the Inquiry. It does not currently have an in-house capability to livestream events.
The Inspector asked the Council to investigate the possibility of livestreaming the event. However, he was advised that an external company would need to be hired to provide the service at a cost of several thousand pounds to the Council.
The Inspector consulted the five main parties on the best way to proceed. Having considered the responses, he advised that the Inquiry would not be livestreamed. In making this decision he also took into account Government advice for Inquiry venues (available at Public inquiries; Hearings and Examinations – venue and facilities requirements – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and the best use of public funds.
We do not know what ‘the five main parties’ said in relation to this matter because they were the only people allowed to attend and they have not disclosed their submissions. It was pointed out to the Inspectorate that the Richmond upon Thames Council website states as follows :
‘Welcome to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames webcasting page. If you have a computer and a broadband internet connection you will be able to watch the meetings live and for up to six months afterwards. ‘
It is well known locally that all Council meetings at York House can be watched live.
Enquiries have been made of councillors. They all appear to be affecting ignorance on the matter. If they had any concern for the local population they would have been pushing hard for this service to be available. Even assuming that the usual channels for Council meetings were not available, who decided it was not worth the cost, a fraction of what the Council is no doubt spending on briefing Counsel?
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Richard I like it! All I can say is do not vote LD next time round, but I’m not sure there are much better alternatives!
Shaun
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I agree entirely with this comment. But we have to improve them and not allow Richmond to become an autocracy run by a cabal.
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No wonder the Council is short of money if they think this can only be done at the cost of “several thousand pounds”! A person in the meeting with a Google account could create a Google Meet and share the link on social media, or there’s Zoom Webinar, YouTube Live and others. If one of these became standard practice for public meetings, it would encourage more interest and participation in local democracy.
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That does suggest it was more to do with obstructing access to the hearings. One wonders also how much the red paint put down on Vernon Road today cost, if you do the kind of calculation the Council apparently made when deciding the Planning Inquiry should not be streamed.
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