TODAY’S (Thursday) meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council will be the first to be broadcast live over the internet.

The meeting takes place at County Hall at 10am and will be webcast live at the website www.pembrokeshire.public-i.tv/

The website will also hold an archive of recorded meetings.

The webcasting follows a notice of motion by Conservative councillor David Howlett that had originally called for members of the public to be allowed to film council meetings.

But, following concerns about how such public filming could be edited and presented, councillors decided that webcasting the meetings would be the best way forward.

A year-long pilot scheme has been approved with full council meetings the first to be broadcast.

A report to the Corporate Governance Committee earlier this year suggested that the move will cost around £15,000 for cameras, microphones and web hosting.

The agenda for the council meeting now contains a warning to members of the public that the meeting “may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast”.

It adds that although the public seating area is generally not filmed, by “entering the public gallery area you are consenting to be filmed and to possible use of those images and sound recordings for webcasting and/or training purposes.”