The first-ever public council meeting in Powys to be held online has taken place amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Powys Council's democratic services committee entered the online world on Wednesday afternoon, in an effort to keep members away from one another, and members of the public, because of the outbreak of the contagious diseaase.

Dan Rowlands, the Conservative councillor for Newtown Llanllwchaiarn North, praised the new system.

“I think it’s fantastic and definitely the way forward," he said.

"It saved two hours of my time today and means I can pick up my kids from school.”

Councillors were advised to have two computers running to monitor the meeting – one to participate and the other to look over the agenda.

The information about it is being made publicly available, and anybody wishing to access the meeting needs to contact the council's democratic services department.

They can then be sent a link via Microsoft Teams, the video conferencing app, to allow them to participate.

Head of legal services and monitoring officer, Clive Pinney, pointed out that there were still problems with holding meetings by remote link – Welsh Government regulations, for example, mean that major decisions can’t be made or voted through.

He said that “all local authorities” were raising this with the Welsh Government.

Mr Pinney, explained: “We’re hoping that Welsh Government will do something about it.

“AGMs (annual meeting) are supposed to take place in May according to law and all monitoring officers are impressing on the Welsh and UK government’s that there should be some relaxation of that.

“We would not really want 73 councillors in the chamber exposing them to unnecessary risk.”

At the full council meeting on March 5, a motion was voted through to  temporarily suspend a standing order in the authority’s rules, that prohibits meetings being attended remotely.

This now allows chief executive, Dr Caroline Turner, and committee chairs to decide whether remote attendance for a meeting is appropriate.

It will help prevent coronavirus from hindering the day-to-day running of the council.