LOCAL councillors took the plunge into the virtual world this week as borough and town council meetings were held remotely for the first time in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Okehampton Town Council met on Monday (April 20) at their usual time of 7pm but instead of councillors gathering in the town hall chamber they met up via digital devices — be they smartphones or laptops — in their own homes.

And on Tuesday afternoon (April 21), West Devon Borough Council gathered in cyberspace rather than the council’s Kilworthy Park offices.

Mayor of West Devon Borough Council Tony Leech, chairing the meeting as usual, described it as ‘an historic event’.

‘Now that central government has allowed local authorities to have their meeting via Skype and other platforms it is time for us to make full use of this technology, which will allow West Devon Borough Council (WDBC) to continue to function properly,’ he said.

He added his thanks to WDBC for keeping services running ‘at the same time as having to carry out the extra responsibilities that have come down from central government’.

Meanwhile, meetings at Tavistock Town Council have not yet resumed, following legislation passed in the House of Commons on April 4 to allow councillors across the country to meet remotely.

However, Tavistock town clerk Carl Hearn said they would be once the technology was sorted out..

‘At this stage it is a question of sorting out the practicalities,’ he said. ‘From the public’s perspective this will be exactly the same as what people are doing at the moment when they view our meetings live on our website.’

In Okehampton, the first town council meeting since lockdown took place on the Zoom platform on Monday night. Okehampton town clerk Emma James said: ‘The holding of remote meetings will enable essential business to be conducted in the normal way whilst maintaining transparency.

‘It also means that members of the public will continue to the have the opportunity to comment on items, including planning applications.’

Members of the public wanting to ‘come’ to meetings need to contact the clerk beforehand on 01837 53179 or email [email protected] for a link, which will be different for each one. Phones can be used as well as computer, albeit without being able to see other participants. Find details of upcoming meetings, taking place at 7pm on some Mondays, at www.okehampton.gov.uk.

West Devon Borough Council meetings can be viewed online on the council’s YouTube channel. The next one takes place on Tuesday, April 28 at 11am. Visit YouTube and key in ‘West Devon Borough Council’.