Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge Town Council is showing its green credentials by moving from printed papers to computer tablets and a new electronic meeting papers system.
The council says that the move to paperless will save the council £1,083 per year and 21,600 sheets of paper and works towards its ‘Clean And Green Environment’ pledge.
Staff have been supporting councillors to access papers using tablet computers. Ibabs, a web-based tool for creating agendas, reports and minutes for meetings, was first used at Monday’s Town Council meeting.
The one-off cost for this greener alternative was paid for from savings made on the staffing budget, says the council.
Mayor Cllr Mike Facey said: “It can be tricky to get to grips with new IT so the service provider and office have offered lots of training sessions to get us all up to speed. I am really impressed by the new system’s ease of use.”
Town Clerk Sam Winter adds: “It’s great the town council has embraced this efficient IT process. Those who attended last night’s town council meeting used the new system for the first time and agreed it performed well. This works towards our Clean And Green Environment pledge as part of the 6 pillars under our cooperate plan, which is designed to benefit our towns.”
Members of the public attending meetings who are not comfortable with IT are still provided with a paper version of agendas. All meetings papers are available for download about a week before the meeting on the council’s website.
