More than 4,000 people watched the leader of the council take questions from the public in a live broadcast.

Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, spent more than an hour answering people’s questions via the Dudley Borough Facebook page last night.

The Facebook Live session reached over 10,000 people online and generated over 100 comments from the public. Councillor David Vickers, deputy leader of the council, put the questions to the leader as they came in on the live feed.

They included questions about the proposed temporary travellers site consultation, Dudley town centre investment, the future of the derelict former Hippodrome and bingo hall in Castle Hill and free parking in town centres. The leader answered the questions in a live video feed which generated more than 90 views in the first 10 minutes. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said:

“This was a very useful session to find out what is on people’s minds at the moment. We are a council that listens to local people and we do everything we can to help them.

“We have a good mix of questions including the exciting multi-million pound Midland Metro plans in Dudley as well as some more personal issues that I have asked staff to look into as soon as possible.

“These live questions and answers sessions are about giving our residents the opportunity to ask questions of the people making decisions at this council and are vital for us in ensuring we know what makes people tick.”

A similar live event was held in September last year which had over 3,000 views. The live videos are available to view on the council’s Facebook page or via YouTube. The next live forum will be timed around the next set of community forums which take place in March.