A Penrith City Councillor wants Council meetings to be video recorded in a push for more transparency.
Liberal Councillor Reece Nuttall is asking for amendments to be made to the meeting code of future Penrith City Council meetings.
Nuttall put forward a Notice of Motion at this month’s Ordinary Council meeting to ask that a change be made to the Code of Meeting Practice to ensure all future Council and Committee meetings be recorded both in audio and video.
Currently, the code only says meetings are to be recorded using audio.
“Each meeting of the council or a committee (of which all Councillors are members) of the Council will be audio recorded and uploaded on to the Council’s website as soon as practical after the meeting,” the Code of Meeting Practice currently says.
Nuttall wants the Code to be changed to include a video element as well.
“All meetings of the council and committees (of which all Councillors are members) will be audio-visually recorded and uploaded to the Council’s website as soon as practical after the meeting,” the amended code will say.
Nuttall is pushing to amend the Code to include the visual recording, saying his Notice of Motion was about transparency and accessibility.
“I pushed for Council meetings to be visually recorded because transparency matters,” Nuttall said.
“Our community deserves to see and understand the decisions we make and hold us accountable for them. Visual recordings make it easier for everyone to follow who’s speaking and what’s being said in the chamber.
“It’s also about accessibility. Not everyone can attend meetings in person, and some residents, like my brother who is hearing impaired and other residents who are hard of hearing, benefit greatly from subtitles and visuals.
“This is about opening the door for all community members to engage with Council and stay informed, no matter their circumstances.”
Council staff will now prepare a report to be brought back to Councillors in early 2025 including the full costings and the amended clauses.
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.