Isle of Wight councillors will meet in person tonight (Wednesday) for the first time in more than a year.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, temporary UK government legislation meant council committees and other important meetings could take place virtually to keep democracy and public health COVID safe.
That legislation has now come to an end and council meetings are now expected to take place physically rather than virtually.
The first face-to-face meeting of the Isle of Wight Council is the annual Full Council and will take place in the main sports hall at 1Leisure Medina, Newport, at 5pm.
As the first meeting following the local election, it includes the election of a new leader, chairman and vice-chairman.
The easiest and safest way for residents to join and listen to the meeting is still virtually via a live stream.
There will be room for 50 members of the public to attend on a first come, first served basis.
However, those who wish to attend should:
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Wear a face covering while in the building and during the meeting unless you have an exemption;
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Wash your hands before and after the meeting;
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Keep a safe social distance from other people when entering and leaving the building and during the meeting.
You should not attend if you or someone in your household have symptoms of COVID-19, have tested positive, or if you need to self-isolate.
We also ask that you take a symptom free rapid lateral flow test no earlier than the evening before the meeting and no later than one hour before the meeting.
Ideally everybody should be taking COVID tests twice weekly as part of the measures we should all be taking to keep COVID rates low as lockdown measures are relaxed.
Council Chief Executive, John Metcalfe, said:
"The last year has thrown many challenges at us, including not being able to meet in person.
"Everyone adapted really well and very quickly to the remote meetings process, which meant we could carry on the work of the council despite the public health situation.
“However it’s now time to return and we’ll be taking that first step back to face-to-face meetings tomorrow, although they will still be very different to meetings pre-pandemic.
"As social distancing will still be in place and numbers restricted, I would encourage members of the public to tune in via the live stream.”
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