BARNET Council has been accused of ducking questions about recording meetings after failing to say whether the delayed Brent Cross Cricklewood planning meeting would be webcast.

A motion to have all committees webcast was rejected by a full meeting of the council in September, but last night Councillor Jack Cohen asked if the special meeting could be recorded.

His question was never answered by chairman Councillor Maureen Braun.

Cllr Cohen said: “Cllr Braun was saying we should bring notepads and laptops to make notes about the meeting, so I asked if it could be recorded so we could watch it back at our leisure.

“This is such an important meeting not only should people be allowed to speak, but they should be allowed to see what happens.

“The council keeps saying it wants to be more inclusive and promote democracy, but it does not want to put meetings online so people can interact on their PCs.”

Neighbouring councils in Haringey, Camden and Hertsmere all webcast meetings, as does the Greater London Authority.

Jon Cox, who is campaigning against the Brent Cross plans, has been writing to Barnet for more than a month to find out if it is illegal for the public to record meetings.

He said: “It's a shame they do not give the oxygen of publicity to public meetings of Barnet committees.

“If the council is not prepared to record the meetings the public should be allowed to. I have asked them what grounds they do not permit recordings and they have cited statute law from the 1960s.

“They can't seem to find anywhere the council has actually banned recordings themselves.”

A spokesman for Barnet Council said a final decision on whether to webcast the Brent Cross meeting planned for November 18 and 19 had not been made, but said it was general council policy not to record meetings as they are not “good value for money”.