Democracy is dead

I posed this question is democracy dead in South Ayrshire on Thursday 25th June, when a virtual full council meeting took placethe first Council meeting since March 24.

Where we had a new council leader appointed, along with various changes on who will be sitting on what committees and outside bodies to represent the interests of the people of South Ayrshire ,this was done in light of the ongoing Covid pandemic where members would participate remotely, to mitigate the virus transmission.

All well and good even thoughtful, however, it seems there was not access be any means available for the public, nor the press, to view the democratic proceedings remotely if they so chose to do so .

When asked by a member of the public a local councillor was told the council did not have the infrastructure to allow the public the access to do so.

When my niece’s 8 year old communicates by Zoom via that internet thingy, I find that a poor excuse like the dog ate my homework, still our plucky hero ploughed on this time asking the Council directly why the public could not view the proceedings .

This time they received the official excuse saying the public could not access the proceedings due to the Covid regulations that are there to protect the public from actual transmission of the virus.

Are South Ayrshire privy to information not available to everyone else on the planet? Can Covid 19 be contracted via the internet? Being a self confessed non tech person I find that an incredulous excuse.

The council had 3 months in lockdown, surely they could have planned their first meeting back a bit better than this ,or is democracy only valid when they are seeking re-election. My only concern about possible virus transmission of the council meeting would be could my computer catch a virus.

Ian Stewart, Councillor,