Town council shifts its meetings online during lockdown

NEW Milton Town Council has relaunched its meetings virtually in a bid to keep residents informed during the lockdown.

The planning committee was first to go live last night (Thursday), and the amenities committee will meet next in its originally scheduled slot of 6.30pm on Tuesday 14th April.

These two, along with the next of the fortnightly planning meetings at 6.30pm on Thursday 23rd April, are being held via online video conferencing service Zoom. But security concerns have prompted the council to relocate all meetings after that to the Microsoft Teams service.

As these initial meetings are through Zoom’s free sessions, which are limited to 40 minutes, Cllr Reid said long speeches would be vetoed to ensure each councillor had a chance to speak. There will also be public participation sessions for residents wishing to raise issues.

The mayor added: “We are servants of the people, and my personal view is that the public should be confident that we’re doing what we’ve got to do in this difficult situation.”

Those wishing to watch any of the meetings will need to register at zoom.us and email info@newmiltontowncouncil.gov.uk or call 01426 619120 for the ID code and password at least 24 hours beforehand.