As mentioned earlier, last night saw one of the busiest Ventnor Town Council (VTC) meetings for a very long time. With over 40 members of the public in the audience, the TC were wise to move the meeting from under the stage to the main hall.
In a change to the usual procedure, last night the VTC gave the public the freedom to put forward their views on the issues affecting the town beyond the usual 15 minutes.
Extra Time and Less Restriction
In fact, the public question time was extended to well over 30 minutes and it wasn’t restricted to just questions.
Residents were given the ability to make statements (something the Mayor normally rejects) and express their views freely (more to come on that later).
As many people attending the meeting last night are not regular VTC meeting goers, we expect that they weren’t aware of how privileged they were last night to have this extended period of time, or that they were allowed to make statements and express their views without being cut off.
Well done to the VTC for allowing the public the chance to express their views without restrictions and for taking note of public opinion when making decisions later in the meeting.
Questions within Agenda Items
It’s worth mentioning that another change from normal procedure that took place last night was the agreement that members of the public could ask questions during a particular agenda item, rather than just at the beginning.
We have never seen this take place before, but obviously it makes great sense. As the member of public who asked for this to happen stated, “I don’t know what question I want to ask until I hear what you, the Town Council, have to say about the matter.”
Let’s hope we see more of this flexibility taking place at Town Council meetings around the Island. It must make sense to get the opinions of those who take their own time to come along to meetings.
Image: Bloomsberries
