AFTER watching a recent virtual council meeting I am lead to wonder where the line is drawn in public speaking terms. I had expressed a wish to take part in that section of the debate, but was told that there was a rule that stated only 30 minutes were allowed in this section and that equated to ten speakers. The chair ruled I should have to give a written representation , although the chair used to have the ability to use his discretion I had no problem, if that's a rule then so be it.

When it came to watching the meeting I was slightly peeved to see that a couple of developers were included in this section. (To make matters worse one had three or four people to help him answer questions ). After him was another who referred to himself as a developer, he had actually been one of the previous speakers colleagues. To crown it all he had a colleague to help him answer questions, who turned out to have been one of the previous speakers colleagues also.

Time spent on the first developer was 50 minutes the second one 20 minutes

Now I can't ever remember a public speaker being allowed to have a colleague to answer questions and I expect it wouldn't be allowed. I fully accept that developers should be allowed to speak, but they should not be classed as members of the public when it comes to time allocated for them to speak.

I would like to stress the point that this is not a personal grouse, it is a plea for fairness when it comes to public participation.

Brian Watson,

Beckfield Lane,

York