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Town Hall Politics


Paul Kennedy

Should Warrington's Full Council meetings be broadcast on the internet  

14 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Warrington's Full Council meetings be broadcast on the internet

    • Yes
    • No
    • Don't know/don't care


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Hilary is obviously a frustrated deva, here she is on the drums and quite good. Maybe she should remain teaching drums instead of banging her own drum!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkFKjbHPSLY&NR=1

 

Maybe Gary could feature a couple on Warrington TV so that we can get a flavour as to what it would look like. There can't be any harm in that can there?

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I watch BBC parliament and Prime Minister Question Time and snippets of debates and special sessions.

 

On Sundays I watch the politics show when Blackpool Panthers are playing away from home.

 

I tend to watch the BBC iplayer recorded version of Question Time because the 10:30pm version is on past my bedtime and also the Extra bit. And then there is the BBC2 thing with Diane and Tory boy & that ex-newhound person.

 

And then there are the Warrington TV interviews with the local politicians, if you get to the bar at the Woolston Leisure Centre on election night you can catch Gary and James at work filming them. For those who are asking no Ian hasn't closed it down.

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Obviously an "anorack": reality is:- that most folk find "politics" boring (unless it's an issue directly affecting them EG a Planning App) and distrust "politicians" - so anything requiring more than a two minute attention span would no doubt turn them off completly. :roll: The reason most folk have become disengaged from politics (assuming they ever were engaged); is that our political institutions have disengaged from the people; with the power to effect change moving higher to Whitehall, and now even higher to Brussels. :twisted: Politics is about power; the power to affect change within communities, and unless that power is devolved to involve ordinary folk in the decisions that directly affect them - the political institutions and the televising of their antics is an irrelevence. :shock:

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Even if very few, if any, people watch the proceedings regularly the very fact that anyone can review exactly what was said, by whom, and with what intonation, at any time in the future, would be an extremely valuable tool for holding politicians to account. One thing that televising parliament has demonstrated to the public is just how few of the 600+ lazy swine actually bother to turn up for work! That's not something which ever used to come across in the pre-camera days - not even in the radio sound recordings.

 

Currently, interested voters have to rely on sanitised meeting minutes and necessarily brief news reports to find out what decisions are being taken by local government and why.

 

The cost needn't be high at all - no need for camera men, sound recordists and producers - just a couple of fixed webcams and a couple of microphones all recording everything, then there can be no accusations of any kind of editorial bias. It's already common practice in my industry to make a sound recording of any meetings with customers - especially when money is being discussed - this would just be an extension of that.

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Inky has a point about fly on the wall recording after all we are discussing Town Hall Politics. Aren't they monthly meetings so a max of 12 per year?

 

Surely making recordings of these events isn't going to break the bank and it would also give the public a chance to see their Warrington councillors in action. I don't think they would start performing like the Lib Dems at Derby that Paul has drawn our attention to in the YouTube video above.

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Full Council Meetings are already held "in public"; and as far as I'm aware, they are not exactly queuing up to get into the Town Hall to watch! :roll: Anoracks may appreciate the points scored in the verbal tennis, the majority may not comprehend the limitatations on "getting things done" caused by the straight jacket of national and EU legislation. :? They may also begin to wonder why, we have more "politicians" per capita than most other Countries, with ever less responsibilities since the advent of Quangos and the EU. :shock:

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Just shows how badly informed you are Geoff; they did "do it" in "his" day; only once though - and even the Councillors found it boring! :roll: Like sport in this country, so in politics; we've become a nation of watchers rather than players; and as in sport; the watchers believe themselves to be more knowlegable than the players! :wink:

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Well maybe that's what's wrong not enough involvement. Maybe it was boring in 'his' day and probably that is still the case. However when the important and more interesting bits come along then Joe Public would have the chance to review them in their own time.

 

As for involvement in sports then there are thousands of enthusiasts out and about at Weekends enjoying themselves.

 

Yes there are probably lots more enjoying their sport in front of their TV and from the stands at local games. This would have been a lot less if your friend had put an end to the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

 

It's a pity we can't log onto our internet and see the meetings in the Town Hall that took place about that decision or even the recent meetings about Longbarn Primary School that so many Lib Dems are rebelling about. Maybe they will eventually unseat Ian Marks for the way that it has been conducted.

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Still oblivious to the facts Geoff: the machinations over the HJ were a triumph of bribery and corruption over planning policies, supported by an ignorant and gullible mob who couldn't give a fig about the integrity of the planning process, and policians who have gone on to subsidise it by the taxpayer by stealth ever since. :roll: Still, we can't have facts interferring with malicious gossip can we?! :wink:

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Obviously oblivious to Planning Policies and Legislation then - which was basically designed to prevent "out of Town" retail developments - but don't let policy consistency stand in the way of political expediency! :wink:

 

"Out of town"????

 

It's no further "out of town" than our mainline railway station is!

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But Inky that's a long way for Observer to walk - to him it really does appear to be 'Out of Town'.

 

The HJ stadium has provided new facilities for the NHS, job fairs are held on a regular basis, European football Championships, Rugby League semi-finals etc etc and all but a short walk from Warrington Central and the new bus staion (which I belive Observer also ranted against being built).

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"OUT OF TOWN (centre)" as deliniated in the local plan, with the boundary along Tanners Lane. :roll: Our laws, planning policies are formulated and agreed by elected politicians, to be interpreted and enforced by professionals - alas, as soon as the ignorant "I want it" mob start kicking off, weak kneed politicians (many with an interest) play to the crowd, and expediency takes over. :roll: btw Geoff, yer starting to "make them up" as yer going along; I don't recall opposing a bus station, just had to laugh at 13 bus stops with a shed to wait in, and a contrived access/ exit layout, costing over ?10million. :wink: As I've already suggested, HJ is being subsidise by the tax-payer - but modst tax-payers don't realise it! :wink:

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