LEETON Shire Council expects to outlay only a small cost when it comes to implementing live streaming of its ordinary meetings.
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All councils in NSW will be required to move to a live streaming service after Local Government Minister Gabriel Upton announced a new uniform code of meeting practice for local governments last month.
Leeton Shire Council general manager Jackie Kruger explained where the process was at.
“Until such time as the new Code of Meeting Practice is prescribed, council is not required to do anything in relation to the live streaming of meetings,” she said.
“As yet, this step in the process has not happened, although advice from the Office of Local Government is that it will happen ‘soon’.
“Once the new code is prescribed, transitional arrangements will apply to its adoption by councils.
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“As a general rule councils are expected to adopt a code of meeting practice based on the Model Meeting Code within six months of its prescription and it is anticipated we will be expected to be live streaming within 12 months of the code being prescribed.”
The government is expected to have the new code out early next year.
Leeton shire is already reasonably set up to implement live streaming, already having the audio capability to do so.
Council has commenced preliminary investigations into how it will enable the live streaming of meetings,” Mrs Kruger said.
“Council already has audio recording capability which will be leveraged as part of the video live streaming project.
“We will need to acquire a good quality video camera. Costs to purchase and install are estimated to be between $3000 and $5000.
“It is likely that Facebook or YouTube will be used (to deliver the live streaming video to the audience.”
It is believed the new code of practice will include limits to mayoral minutes, optional time limits on meetings, a five-minute limit on councilor speeches, and uniform rules of debate.
Mrs Kruger said the positives looked to outweigh any negatives.
“(There will be) greater transparency around council’s decision-making processes, improved visibility of the council in operation allowing the community to better understand the workings of council and get better insight into how decisions are made with the best interests of the community in mind,” she said.
“Initially we were concerned about costs, but there appear to be several relatively low-cost options, including Facebook and YouTube.”
Mrs Kruger said those wanting to tune in from their lounge room once live streaming is up and running should also make sure they’ve downloaded the agenda for the meeting to give context to what they are hearing.
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