BASILDON Council will spend £300,000 transforming a meeting room into a bespoke council chamber with high-tech facilities.

The proposal to spend the cash on the St George Suit meeting room, in the Basildon Centre, was approved at the last policy and resources committee.

The money will go towards revamping the room with new audio and video equipment that will stream council meetings live.

The proposed design will accommodate 42 councillors and offer residents a better view of council proceedings.

Gavin Callaghan, chairman of the committee, is looking forward to the new changes.

He said: “The St George Suite really needs a new look. The carpets are stained and microphones are not working so it’s sometimes difficult to record council meetings for residents to listen to them.

“Wires are falling apart, the room is badly lit and the blinds are falling apart.

“We’re not using all the £300,000 - it is only budgeted.

“When the Conservatives were in administration they budgeted £500,000 for the chamber suite.

“We’ve got to be careful with what we spend, so we have slashed the cost down. This will only be a one-off spending for the council chamber.

“We are the only council that doesn’t have a bespoke council chamber. We will also use the new chamber to invite dignitaries and run special awards ceremonies.

“We need to have a modern facility and make use of technology to drive better civic engagement. The new chamber will allow members of the public to watch what’s going on.”

However, Phil Turner, leader of the Conservative Party, branded the spending as extravagant and felt that the money should be spent elsewhere. He said the Conservative administration put in the £500,000 to revamp the whole of Basildon Centre.

He said: “The Conservative administration had allocated £500,000 as an asset management to refurbish the entire Basildon Centre.

“Money was allocated to revamp the first floor. Things that needed repairs included the disabled toilet facilities, and to make new meeting rooms for residents.

“Money should be spent on community projects that would benefit residents. The council already has facilities, such as audio playback, on our website so residents can listen to our meetings. I don’t believe this is an effective way to encourage residents to participate in council activities. Nothing is better than meeting our residents face-to-face, and having open and honest conversations.”