MAKING audio recordings of Exmoor National Park Authority's meetings could "change the nature and culture of meetings", members will be told when they meet to discuss the issue next Tuesday.

In a joint report, chairman Cllr John Dyke and head of corporate services Charles Burrows will tell members a decision on whether to begin electronically recording meetings will be down to them.

But members will be warned that such a move could have "resource implications", lead to legal challenges from lawyers and not be in keeping with practices at the majority of other national park authorities.

The pair also point out there has never been a complaint about the accuracy of the minutes of committee meetings, which have been taken down by pen and paper since the inception of the authority in 1997.

Their report appears to favour retaining the current arrangement, although the recommendation states: "It is for the authority to decide whether to continue with the existing arrangements or approve some alternative arrangement."

No details are included in the report of what "an alternative arrangement" would entail, other than "linking a recording device to the sound system at Exmoor House" and no information is provided about the actual cost.

The report says: "Whilst the authority has nothing to hide (holding its meetings in public, including an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions) the introduction of audio recording may change the nature and culture of meetings.

"The audio recording of meetings is not a legal requirement and members should consider the business reasons that would justify such a step as well as the advantages and disadvantages.

"The chairmen and officers will need to be even more vigilant in correcting any members' misunderstanding of an issue to counter any later allegations that the committee was misled or failed to take account of correct considerations.

"This will be particularly the case for meetings of the planning committee where verbatim recordings could lead to a challenge by applicants and their advisers, particularly their lawyers."

The issue of recording meetings was first raised by members of pressure group Exmoor Uprising who claimed minutes were not full enough.

But Mr Burrows said minutes were not meant to be a verbatim report of a meeting and their accuracy was also checked and approved at subsequent meetings.

Cllr Dyke also initially dismissed the idea of recording meetings and has already said he will not vote in next Tuesday's debate having made his views on the subject known.

But Exmoor Uprising spokesman Molly Groves dismissed the pairs' concerns as "twaddle" and said problems arose in the first place because minutes were not a full account of meetings.

She claimed moor residents had had complaints about minutes "for the last ten years", while "planning minutes had come in for more criticism than the rest put together".

Mrs Groves said: "Since 1997 there have been enormous advances in IT technology.

"To say there has been no complaint about the accuracy of the minutes is only because people cannot prove their complaints because they do not have audio recordings to prove them."

National park members will be told that, on a local level, only West Somerset Council records its meetings, while just one national park authority makes audio recordings, but only because of a dispute over the accuracy of minutes.

"No complaint has ever been made about the accuracy of the minutes of the authority and its committees . . . indeed, the opposite has proved to be the case with many compliments over the years on their quality, presentation and accuracy.

"It has provided to be a very efficient and cost effective method of recording decisions and is universally used throughout local authorities and national parks," the report to Tuesday's meeting says.