Baw Baw Shire will finally run its first council meeting live stream tomorrow evening.
Councillors resolved to stream and record public meetings in August, and broadcasts were expected to begin in October.
The council’s Trafalgar chamber has been fitted with a single camera as part of the $11,000 transparency project, but additional cameras could be added in the future.
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A Baw Baw Shire spokesperson confirmed to the Baw Baw Citizen that people making submissions to the council will be able to opt out of having their statement streamed or recorded.
Additionally, only the council will be able to record at meetings. All other audio or visual recording remains restricted. (We got the shots at the top of this story during a special meeting where photography was allowed.)
“Community members will now be able to access council meetings from the ease and comfort of their own homes, which is a great convenience, particularly for those who live in the further areas of the municipality,” Baw Baw mayor Joe Gauci said in a media release.
Live streams will be accessible through the council’s website. Download links will be made available by the council after meetings.
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Tomorrow’s meeting, which is scheduled for 5.30pm, will be the group’s last meeting for the year and there’s a lot on the agenda.
Due for consideration is an expansion of the Frankie’s Café liquor license, a drug addiction and support centre in Athlone, several tenders, Civic Park Drouin’s master plan, and much more. You can download the meeting minutes here.
The council’s live stream link is rather long and hard to remember, so we have a shortened version which you can use: bbcit.co/bbscls.
What, with the current state of the abysmal NBN service for most Baw Baw Shire residents in the general West Gippsland area, how will anyone be able to watch this so-called live streaming broadcast, when it will be constantly buff…er…ing. To quote from the classic Aussie film, “Tell ’em they’re dreamin'”.
I’m in West Gippsland within Baw Baw Shire and my NBN is great. Speed is perfectly useable for streaming and my FTTN install happened without a hitch.
But don’t let that get in the way of another feel-good NBN bash…