A full council meeting of South Gloucestershire Council next Wednesday evening (May 19) is being moved to Thornbury Leisure Centre.

The switch has been made because the council chamber in Kingswood is too small to ensure social distancing for all 61 members as well as officers.

The first in-person council meeting in the region since before the pandemic was held this week after the Government refused to extend the emergency legislation required to hold virtual meetings.

South Gloucestershire Council planning committee members, officers and a handful of residents sat socially distanced in Kingswood Civic Centre council chamber on Thursday (May 13).

But some of the webcast for people watching remotely was hard to hear and councillors had to be reminded to switch on their microphones or move them closer while speaking.

At one point, committee chairman Cllr Keith Burchell asked the legal adviser if they were okay to continue because a planning officer’s presentation showing slides of plans and site photos were not displayed on the live feed, aside from a quick flash of a laptop desktop menu.

South Gloucestershire Council development management committee chairman Cllr Keith Burchell had remind members to switch their microphones on so they could be heard on the webcast from the meeting at Kingswood Civic Centre on Thursday, May 13

South Gloucestershire Council development management committee chairman Cllr Keith Burchell had remind members to switch their microphones on so they could be heard on the webcast from the meeting at Kingswood Civic Centre on Thursday, May 13

A spokesperson for the authority said only half a dozen residents could attend physically because of current coronavirus restrictions but anyone who wanted to participate in meetings should contact democratic services for the “teams links”, as has been the case for the last 14 months.

Referring to Thursday’s development management committee, they said: “The public have a right of attendance in person if they wish, and as social distancing and the ‘rule of six’ are still in place, a maximum of six members of the public will be allowed in the meeting space at any one time.

“To ensure enough space is available, the chamber and ‘committee room 1’ will be linked for all meetings, with ‘committee room 1’ being used as the public gallery. 

“Public health guidelines must be observed by those attending the meeting, including the wearing of a face covering (unless medically exempt). Hand sanitisers and spare face masks will be available.

“The council chamber is equipped with four cameras which will be linked to the meeting webcasting software and the teams meeting to allow a hybrid meeting (mix of in-person and remote participation) to take place and there shouldn’t be any difference in the quality of the feed than has been experienced on remote-only meetings.”