A MOVE to electronic meeting papers and tablets instead of printouts will save more than £1,000 and 21,600 sheets of paper, a Somerset council says. 

Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge Town Council staff have been supporting councillors to access papers using tablets, helping the move from printed papers to a brand-new electronic system.

Ibabs, a web-based tool for creating agendas, reports and minutes for meetings, was first used at a recent town council meeting.

The one-off cost for this greener alternative was paid for from savings made on the staffing budget.

But the council hopes the move to paperless will save the council £1,083 per year and 21,600 sheets of paper as it works towards its Clean And Green Environment pledge.

According to tiredearth.com, a typical office worker produces 160 kilograms of paper waste, 45% of all the papers is thrown away in the course of the day after the printing.

Mayor, Cllr Mike Facey, said: “It can be tricky to get to grips with new IT so the service provider and office have offered lots of training sessions to get us all up to speed.

"I am really impressed by the new system’s ease of use.”

And town clerk, Sam Winter, said: “It’s great the town council has embraced this efficient IT process.

"Those who attended last week's town council meeting used the new system for the first time and agreed it performed well.

"This works towards our Clean And Green Environment pledge as part of the six pillars under our cooperate plan, which is designed to benefit our towns.”

Members of the public attending meetings who are not comfortable with IT are still provided with a paper version of agendas.

All meetings papers are available for download about a week before the meeting on the town council website, at www.burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk