COUNCILLORS have rejected a plan to have monthly meetings of the full council – and will go a full three months without one in 2018.

Although there will be a budget-only session in February, there will be no ordinary council meeting after December until March 28.

The SNP administration said it was a compromise between the fewer meetings of the last five years under Labour and the West Dunbartonshire Community Party’s plea for monthly sessions.

Labour also pushed for monthly meetings, claiming they were helping the SNP meet their election manifesto pledge to increase democracy and accountability in the area. When they first took power five years ago, they tried just quarterly council meetings.

The council on Monday approved the meetings diary into 2022. But where full council meetings have previously started at 5pm in recent years, they will now vary in start times, at both 2pm and 6pm, while Councillor Jim Bollan pushed for 7pm sessions that were more suitable to working members of the public.

Cllr Lawrence O’Neill also pushed for sessions to be live-streamed online and for Clydebank Town Hall’s lesser hall to play host to the meetings instead of the smaller but for more formal chamber.

Provost William Hendrie rejected the room change and council leader Jonathan McColl said broadcasting meetings was in the pipeline.

In a separate development, members of the public will be able to submit questions to committee meetings in future, rather than just the open forum of full council meetings.