Keswick councillors staged their first ever virtual meeting last night (Thursday) – and took a brief break during it to ensure they too were able to join in the nationwide Clap For Carers at 8pm.
The coronavirus lockdown meant Keswick Town Council was unable to hold its monthly meeting as scheduled in its chamber, so councillors, staff and journalists all met up online via a Zoom link.
The meeting got under way a little late just after 7.30pm, with 11 of the town’s 12 councillors logging on to take part, Cllr Adam Paxon being unavailable. Several councillors were late to the meeting after experiencing difficulties joining the session.
Keswick’s mayor Cllr David Burn chaired the meeting and declared that history had been made as it finished nearly two hours later, although he admitted: “We have struggled with technical issues at times.”
As he opened the historic meeting, Cllr Burn stressed: “This is a proper council meeting, with normal standing orders applying.” Councillors had to wave their hands on-screen to attract his attention to speak, while counting votes from raised hands across a split screen proved tricky at times.
The mayor had said the meeting was to be briefly suspended, with Zoom links maintained, shortly before 8pm “so we can all go away to show our support for the NHS and do our own thing.” When Cllr Tony Lywood returned to his screen, he reported: “There were loads of people out on Penrith Road – loads more than last week.” The meeting then resumed via Zoom to its conclusion.
The town council meets once a month and its May meeting, when next year’s mayor is due to be elected by councillors, might also be held on-line as lockdown continues.