A COUNCIL has been branded “undemocratic” after rejecting calls to make footage of council meetings available online.

Conservative-run Oxfordshire County Council voted down a motion to show video of its meetings online so residents can catch up on key decisions.

Members said the service would cost too much at a time of budget cuts – although three of the county’s five district councils run the service.

Liberal Democrat county group leader Zoe Patrick said: “It is a bad thing for democracy. It is important that people can see meetings and follow what is going on at the council. They can see how their councillors vote and it brings home to people what is happening in their council. It is part of making everything transparent.”

She added: “Often if there is a meeting in the daytime when most people are at work. It means they can come home and watch it. It is a really good thing.”

County meetings include sessions where key decisions are taken about major issues including education and transport. Most start between 10am and 4pm, while most district council meetings are in the evening.

Andrew Burford, 46, of Chain Hill in Wantage, who takes a close interest in local Government, said: “It is a public meeting so why not? There are some people who do not want to travel a long way to a meeting. It would save carbon and travelling and it makes the whole thing more open.”

Lib Dem councillor David Turner brought the motion after Local Government Minister Bob Neill wrote to all councils urging them to webcast meetings.

He said: “Transparency and openness should be the underlying principle behind everything councils do, and in this digital age it is right that we modernise our approach to public access.”

Rodney Rose, Conservative county council member for Wychwood, said: “It would be nice to have, but the nice to have things are what we are not spending money on.”

South Oxfordshire District Council began webcasts in January 2006. The service costs £16,875 a year, and about 1,025 residents logged on in January.

Chief executive David Buckle said: “This is particularly useful for a rural district like South Oxfordshire. The decision process also becomes more open and transparent.”

Cherwell District Council launched its £19,415-a-year service in 2005. Some 643 residents watched meetings in January.

Oxford City Council started filming meetings in April last year at a cost of £595 per meeting. About 150 people watched its February budget meeting live online.