As a result of a fascinating tour of the council chamber at Brighton Town Hall given by Norah Fitch to members of the West Hill Community Association as part of our visit to the Mayor’s Parlour, we learned that the public can not only attend council meetings in person, but all proceedings of both the full council and other committees, including the Planning Committee, are available as live and archived webcasts via the council website.

A webcast is a transmission of audio and video over the internet. Video cameras at Council meetings capture the live information and broadcast it to anyone who would like to view the meeting. Should you miss a meeting, or would like to view a section of the meeting again, then you can view the archive of the webcast. The archives allow you to view a meeting and, through the use of the index points, allow you to jump to a specific agenda point or speaker. You can also view any presentations used at the meeting.

If you were one of the 68.28% of voters who voted in May, this is a great way to keep an eye on the performance of your local councillor from the comfort of your own home and really keep in touch with how the city is being managed by our elected representatives and the officers.