3 October (Part 3) - Negotiations in progress
Following
the changes announced by the Communities Department which came into force on
10th September John Kerlen lost no time in requesting permission to video a council meeting.
Each to his own, I can think of few things worse than witnessing a council meeting more than once.
Bexley council was equally quick off the mark to say that what Eric Pickles
might wish for has no bearing on what happens in London’s most secretive borough.
I tried a lower key approach than John Kerlen’s and on 6th September submitted proposals
to Bexley council. I said I did not plan to bring video or audio recording
equipment to their meetings, neither would I use Twitter but I would like to be
able to take the occasional photograph. The relevant paragraph was…
I do not expect to be threatened with arrest for bringing a camera into the
council chamber again as has happened previously. I frequently carry a camera
and will in future do so when attending council meetings. However I would not
expect to use it during a meeting except in the most exceptional circumstances.
I have in mind things like a fire alarm, police presence or the expulsion of a
member of the public. I might occasionally wish to use a camera before the
meeting to set the overall scene inside the chamber but only with an ultra wide
angle lens. I would not feel comfortable aiming a long lens at individual
councillors and do not expect to do so. It might not be necessary to take 'scene
setters' more than a handful of times, too many and they would all look the
same. I would never use flash and in all probability the novelty of photography
would soon wear off and not become the norm.
It
has provoked an interesting correspondence which is not yet concluded. The
response included the council’s usual diatribe a version of which is trotted
out by all their worst chairmen at their meetings…
“The Council has an agreed protocol on behaviour at meetings. The protocol was
agreed by the Council on 14 April 2010 (†) and requires permission from
the Mayor/Chairman for any audio or visual recording of proceedings. This
protocol is consistent with recently issued Regulations. Nothing in these
Regulations requires a decision-making body to permit the
taking of photographs of any proceedings or the recording of any proceedings.”
As bad and as unmoving that Bexley’s standard reply may appear to be the
correspondence is not entirely inflexible. A compromise cannot yet be ruled out.
Watch this space.
† It was 2011 actually. Photograph
pre-dates council ban on photography