Biddulph Town Council meetings have been suspended for the time being as emergency Coronavirus legislation brought in to allow councils to meet virtually expired.

The announcement was made yesterday (Tuesday) by Biddulph's Mayor at the time, Cllr John Jones - with Cllr Sylvia Rushton being elected as the new Mayor later in the meeting.

Cllr Jones explained that the council had to meet early to elect the new Mayor as the emergency legislation allowing virtual meetings is due to expire tomorrow (Thursday).

It means that the council has had to suspend its meetings, as virtual meetings may no longer be considered legal, and in-person meetings are still not permitted due to Coronavirus restrictions.

However, he also added that the extra public interest since meetings were broadcast virtually had been "very much appreciated" by the council, and reiterated the council's aim to continue broadcasting meetings online for the public to watch in the future.

He said: "We are meeting a week early this year due to the fact that after May 6th the emergency legislation to allow us to meet on zoom will expire, and Covid rules still mean that we can't meet in person. An application to the High Court to continue to emergency legislation was dismissed, unfortunately.

"This means that after Thursday, if we wish to officially meet as a council it must be physically and in the same room. The rules will not allow us to do that at the moment, and even after May 17th will not allow more than six to gather indoors, so this presents some problems.

"We have to work within the rules and our officers are investigating to ensure that the business of this council can continue without interruption.

"We have very much appreciated the public interest in our meetings, and we feel very strongly that a virtual element should be included in future meetings to bring local democracy to the people.

"We've had more interaction than ever before and that has been really valuable. If we could carry on virtually until restrictions are lifted we would, but that would render any decisions made illegal and open to challenge.

"Please rest assured that we will publicise future dates for meetings and we hope you will continue your attendance going forward."

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