Open meetings opposed

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 5

Open meetings opposed

Nearly all members of the North Canterbury Hospital Board are strongly opposed to opening committee meetings to the public.

Both the public and the; (press came under fire as) board members expressed) their opposition to. the pro-' ; posed Public Bodies Meet-) ) Ings Amendment Bill, which) would admit the general) public to committee meetlings of all local bodies. The board was com-: (menting on a letter received) from the Hospital Boards’: Association which set out 1 the proposals'. Submissions will be sent) to the association, setting: out the board’s disatisfaction! iwith the amendment. Members felt that because! many committee discussions were on confidential sub-, jects, it would be unwise to) admit the public. People could take the discussion out of context, and get the wrong impressions of the committee’s intentions, they said. It would be extremely difficult to arrange com- : mittee business, and have | free discussion, and it could seriously impair the effec- ; tive or efficient working of the board. Many felt that it would result in a threeriiered struciture, where several sub-; i committees would be set up: which would then report to! the committee and the com-) mittee decision would then: be heard in an open meet-) ling. Mr M. R. Good said that . the Hospital Board was dif-! ferent from other local, bodies. Meetings were some-: (times very confidential, and

iiif they were open many >| people would be restricted liin their comments. The acting chairman (Mrs! -:L. C. Gardiner) said that the. ti board had a specialised fu'nc-! 11 tion. “Members of the press i ; would be there too. This; -jmay give rise to misleading, 11information. To report our 1 ’)meetings could be quite mis- 1 “leading,” she said. Only one board member agreed with opening the .(meetings — Mrs M. McG. J Clark who .has experienced 11 open committee meetings at (the Christchurch City Counilcil. “Few people would come anyway. Its pretty dry going Jto a committee meeting," she said. “Democracy must ■be seen to be working. I People feel happier if meetings are open, even if they' don’t come along.”