Town council apologise for meeting’s technical difficulties

THE town council has issued an apology for the technical difficulties experienced by the public at last week’s annual council meeting.

Residents attempting to watch a live-stream of the meeting on the internet, which was held at the Assembly Hall, endured intermittent sound issues.

And despite the meeting starting promptly at 7pm, residents watching at home were left in the dark as they waited for the live stream to start.

“We understand that this was frustrating for many residents,” said the town council’s clerk, Linda Roberts. “It’s important to note that this was a temporary setup and totally separate from the recently commissioned installation of audio-visual (AV) equipment which will be permanently installed in the Town Hall.

“The continuing requirement for us to adhere to Covid regulations, specifically social distancing rules, dictated our need to create a short-term solution in a small time frame and we were determined to keep costs as low as possible. Openness and transparency are at the core of what local government should deliver. Our AV providers have extended their sincere apologies for the late streaming link and sound issues – which will be corrected in time for the first meeting.”

AV suppliers, Status AV, said, “On behalf of [Status AV] I wish to sincerely apologise for the results of Monday’s annual council meeting (17th May).  It is far from the standards we pride ourselves on. 

“Despite all of the usual advance preparation and testing to prove the system is functioning, we proceeded to face numerous technical issues. 

“The cause of the audio interference is yet to be determined as when we tested the microphones afterwards, no issues presented themselves. 

“Regardless, the microphones are in quarantine and will no longer be used on any event until the cause has become clear and resolved. 

“Perhaps something introduced to the room caused interference with the Infrared wireless microphones, therefore we will not risk this in future and you can rest assured that all the equipment for next Monday’s (24th May) event will be hard wired, removing any possibility for interference.”