Town councillors in Marlborough are about to become the first in the county to join the 21st century by agreeing to ditch paper-based reports and enter the i-Pad age.
They agreed on Monday to recommendations from Town clerk Shelley Parker who reported that 52 council meetings in the past financial year had cost c£3,500, an estimated £14,000 over four years.
Apart from less time spent on administration, in particular printing and photo-copying agendas, an initial outlay of £5,600 for i-Pads for each councillor would be recouped in less than two years.
Hard copies of some specific documents could still be made available when necessary and agendas would continue to be posted on notice boards throughout the town.
Wiltshire Council already operates a paperless technology, members of the public being able, if they wish, to print out information and reports from its extensive website.
Councillor Justin Cook was concerned that the public perception of buying individual i-Pads for councillors would not be well received by the public and might damage the positive changes the council had made in the past year.
And Councillor Peggy Dow, who does not personally use a computer, sought assurances that she would be assisted in learning how to cope with new technology.
But the vote for the future was a resounding Yes.
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