Mix-up over meeting invite prompts Torbay Council apology

Torbay Council has apologised for a mix-up over a public meeting to discuss a proposed local authority reorganisation which will change the way the bay is governed.

The government’s proposals mean the name ‘Torbay’ could be wiped off the map as the bay joins other neighbouring councils in a new, larger authority.
A meeting at the Princess Theatre to explain the reorganisation and what it could mean for Torbay was intended to be an ‘in-person’ occasion, but a mix-up meant some online invitations included a clickable link to view the meeting online.
The link should not have been there, and the meeting was never available to view remotely. It was quickly removed, but not before angry would-be attendees found themselves without the access they expected.
Robert Bagnall said he and his wife had booked tickets to be at the theatre, but decided to join online when they noticed that option was available.
He went on: “We were never admitted from the online waiting room, hence were excluded from the consultation process. This was our only realistic opportunity to hear detailed proposals, and the council actively undermined democracy by excluding us and others.”
Mr Bagnall said he had welcomed an online option because it would have encouraged working people, disabled people and those with caring commitments to attend.
“Had an online option not been offered, we would have been in the room,” he said. “Your provision of a spurious online option or, alternatively, failure to allow people into the meeting online actively undermined the consultation process.”
However, the council says the meeting, which was attended in person by more than 150 local people and organisations, had been promoted throughout as an in-person event.
A spokesman said: “The government has set out a fast timetable for re-organisation and as far as we are aware we are the only authority in Devon to have set up an in-person event to keep our residents informed before the non-binding options are submitted to government by 21 March.
“We have written to Mr Bagnall and apologised that he received a link to join online. This is something that the external events software we use added on to a small number of attendees’ confirmation emails. We will be ensuring that for future in-person events that this is checked and the right option is promoted.”
All the questions and answers aired during the event are being published on the council’s website.
The council has also clarified the appearance of a column by council leader David Thomas (Con, Preston) on a local newspaper website which appeared to report on the meeting several hours before it happened.
“It shows contempt for the process of public consultation,” said Mr Bagnall.
The council spokesman explained that the article had been provided under embargo and was scheduled to appear in print two days after the Princess Theatre event.
“Due to the way the print media works,” said the spokesman, “to ensure content is included in the printed newspaper we do sometimes have to provide content under embargo just as things like this are happening.
“We do ensure though that any content does not include any results or decisions made as they are unknown at the time. In this case, we knew the event would be well attended due to the number of registrations we had been receiving.”