THE City of Greater Geelong has fully agreed to a recommendation made by the Citizens\u2019 Jury and will eventually start livestreaming council meetings.<\/p>\n
At their meeting last week, councillors resolved to commit to the initiative \u2013 which is estimated to cost about $80,000 \u2013 and have it in place by July.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Citizens\u2019 Jury recommended that the City of Greater Geelong broadcast council meetings through multiple media platforms, saying the practice would provide unedited data and information to the wider community in an open and transparent public forum as well as a platform for the public to refer back to, fostering a sense of involvement, and would also hold councillors to account to the Code of Conduct.<\/p>\n
In response councillors approved the new Live Streaming and Publishing Recordings of Council Meetings Policy in September, and last week\u2019s meeting authorised the city\u2019s chief executive officer to livestream meetings in accordance with the policy.<\/p>\n
Funds have been set aside in this year\u2019s council budget for equipment, including audio, video and lighting technology.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s resolution also notes that risk mitigation measures related to the livestreaming will be adopted by the city, and that streaming or publishing recordings of council meetings will not start until the relevant equipment had been procured and installed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are intent on being transparent in our decision making, so anything that helps us to do that is worthwhile,\u201d Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE City of Greater Geelong has fully agreed to a recommendation made by the Citizens\u2019 Jury and will eventually start livestreaming council meetings. At their meeting last week, councillors resolved to commit to the initiative \u2013 which is estimated to cost about $80,000 \u2013 and have it in place by July. Last year, the Citizens\u2019 […]<\/p>\n