PROPOSALS to take discussions at a council meeting into a private sitting have upset opposition members.

Newly elected BCP Council place overview and scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Sean Gabriel suggested having a discussion about what should be on the forward plan “as a team” without the public and press present.

He denied that this amounted to having discussions behind closed doors and said the idea was a normal part of the process of deciding an agenda.

“I think people are thinking that things will just be pushed away. That’s not the case,” he said.

Former overview and scrutiny chairman Cllr Steve Bartlett said the committee was supposed to be a public meeting. He said: "Anything associated with this meeting should be in a public forum."

"We need full transparency on all discussions,” he added.

Cllr Vikki Slade was also against the idea. The Liberal Democrat councillor said: “I’m pretty disappointed to hear that suggestion.

"We have a number of items which are either cabinet items, which members feel should be scrutinised and the public want to see scrutinised, and other items which members have fed through which they want to be scrutinised. Anyone can ask for anything to be scrutinised,” she said.

“If there’s things you (the chairman) don’t want on the forward plan then you, and any other person who doesn’t want them on there, should say in a public arena why you don’t want them there, if not we should do them.”

Christchurch Independents councillor Lesley Dedman: “No other council I know of does these things behind closed doors in scrutiny. This should be in the public forum."

Cllr Slade said there was also upset about the lack of information about meeting dates for the five annual meetings of the committee, which needed to arranged to be held prior to cabinet meetings, to ensure their proposed decisions were looked at.

The next meeting of the committee is currently scheduled for June 16, which is likely to include discussion about the Winter Gardens site and BCP Future Places regeneration proposals and what should go on the forward plan  – leaving just three meetings until next April.

Cllr Slade claimed the reduction in meetings, with the number of items which needed to be discussed, would make it impossible to achieve and was likely to result in some items being dropped for scrutiny.