Hundreds of people headed online for the first ever community forum live on facebook in a groundbreaking project at Dudley Council.

Council chiefs have hailed the move last night a huge success after around 600 people visited the Dudley borough facebook page in just one hour.

The council has vowed to hold regular online community forums to accompany the public meetings which run every few weeks at a range of venues.

Councillor Pete Lowe, deputy leader of the council, spent the hour answering questions on a range of subjects and sharing links to useful information from the council’s website.

Councillor Pete Lowe, deputy leader of the council, said:

“The community forums have been a huge success but we wanted to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to have their say in line with our commitment to being a community council.

“I believe this is the first such initiative that any council has done in the country and I was overwhelmed with the number of people taking part. It was a huge success and we will certainly be holding one during each round of the forums with the next one scheduled for November.”

People can still raise their ideas and questions at the current round of community forums which are taking place at a number of venues until September 11.

Residents will be able to raise issues at Halesowen North and Halesowen South community forum tonight (September 4) at Cornbow Hall, Hagley Street, Halesowen. Norton, Pedmore and Stourbridge East, Wollaston and Stourbridge Town community forum will be at Stourbridge Children’s and Family Centre, Forge Road, Stourbridge, at the same time tonight (Wednesday September 4).

Amblecote, Cradley and Wollescote, Lye and Stourbridge North community forum takes place at Lye Community Centre, Cross Walks, Lye on September 10. On the same day Kingswinford North and Wall Heath, Kingswinford South and Wordsley community forum will be at Holy Trinity Church Hall, High Street, Wordsley.

Finally, on September 11 Belle Vale, Hayley Green and Cradley South community forum will be welcoming residents to Huntingtree Primary School, Bournes Hill, Halesowen. On the same day Nine Locks Community Centre, in Hill Street, Brierley Hill will host the Brierley Hill, Brockmoor and Pensnett community forum.

The council has committed to becoming a community council giving people more ways to get involved with the authority and championing the work of communities across the borough. The commitment includes the Love Your Community initiative which asks people to report problems such as litter, potholes and fly-tipping to the council and encourage greater pride in the borough.