A number of councillors express concern that Guildhall building is too cold during meetings
It may have once been described as a ‘cold house’ for nationalists, but it seems that Derry’s Guildhall building is still a bit too chilly for some of our local politicians.
In a report which came before a council meeting this week, a number of councillors have complained that the Guildhall Chamber is too cold during their meetings.
This complaint was one of several gripes raised as part of the Councillor Satisfaction Survey.
The results of the survey were revealed at Tuesday’s meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Governance and Strategic Planning Committee.
The meeting was told that 34 out of the total of 40 councillors completed the survey, which resulted in an ‘overall average satisfaction of 93 per cent’.
However, it emerged that a number of issues were raised by councillors, such as ‘temperature in the Guildhall Chamber too low on a cold day’.
Difficulties with the sound in the same room was also a concern, with the report outlining that more than one councillor had raised the issue of ‘inadequate amplification in the Guildhall Chamber’.
The report continued that a number of other issues raised by councillors are ‘worthy of consideration’ and could be included in its improvement plan, such as Wi - Fi should be available throughout the entire Guildhall building, not just within the Guildhall Chamber.
Councillors also raised concerns over the length of time it takes council officers and staff to respond to them via email, which was described as ‘inconsistent’, with a request also for a staff list of P senior and junior management in council with associated photographs.
In addition, there was also a number of specific concerns relating to Planning meetings, with a request for specialist training for Planning committee meetings, while another councillor said that the images in Planning Meeting Pack were ‘inadequate need to be improved’.
Meanwhile, one councillor also suggested that the webcasting facility which is available at the full meeting of council is extended to include council committee meetings and that ‘electronic voting’ also be made available to members.
The meeting heard that this would ‘incur additional costs to council and has not been researched or factored into next year's budget’.
The report added: “Additionally, Council has procured a contract based on webcasting hours for council meetings only. The extension of this facility could be reviewed when developing the next contract.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors were told that an action plan was now in place to address the issues raised, which included ‘ensuring adequate temperatures’ in the Guildhall Chamber, and improve amplification in the same room with an implementation date set for June 2017.
The same action plan outlined that a date of November 2017 has been set for the implementation of electronic voting in the Guildhall Chamber.
The chair of the committee, the DUP’s Drew Thompson said that with regards to the councillors who did not respond the survey: “I assume the six councillors who didn’t reply are all very, very happy or they just couldn’t be bothered to look at their emails.”