CCTV improvements would increase public safety, say Lib Dems

10.29.43am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 7th Aug 2006

Liberal Democrat councillors have urged improvements to the CCTV systems in the borough, following the findings of the Borough Council's 2006 Residents' Survey which put 'tackling crime' as the top spending priority.

At its meeting last Thursday, the Community Development Scrutiny Committee considered a detailed report on the CCTV service and priorities for its improvement. All were agreed that the digital recording system should be replaced at a cost of £60,000, to provide better quality video archives for police use, and to allow the system to be expanded to cope with more cameras. The camera at Haydon Place should also be repositioned and replaced because of redevelopment of the Telephone Exchange site, at an estimated cost of £15,000. But the Scrutiny Committee failed to agree about the installation of three further top-priority CCTV cameras. Liberal Democrat councillors urged that £94,000 should be ear-marked in the Council's Major Schemes Capital Programme to fund new CCTV cameras, but this was rejected by the Conservative majority on the Scrutiny Committee.

The new cameras proposed by the Lib Dems were the next three schemes from the list of priorities identified in the report:

• At the junction of London Road and York Road, to tackle 'persistent problems at the entrance to Station Approach'.

• At Cathedral Roundabout, near the University, where there is a history of assaults locally, to address the fear of crime, especially among the student population.

• At the Dover Arms Roundabout in Ash, to address local fear of crime and to complete coverage of the strategic route between Aldershot, Ash and Guildford.

Town centre councillor Gordon Bridger (Lib Dem, Holy Trinity) told the Committee "CCTV has been uniquely successful. Of all the investments this Council makes, CCTV is the one which has done most to increase public safety and reassurance. We should get on with it, and move these three cameras from the 'wish list' onto the list for committed funding."

Conservative councillors suggested that the police should be asked to fund the capital cost, but Cllr Bridger pointed out there was a successful tradition of joint funding already. He said "The scheme has always been a very effective partnership with the police - the council funds the capital costs of the cameras, and the police funds the considerable ongoing operational costs. We should carry on with that successful approach."

Cllr Vivienne Johnson, the Lib Dem Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee, called a vote on the proposal to recommend funding for the three new CCTV cameras, and was disappointed but not surprised by the outcome. The vote was lost by eight votes to seven, with all Lib Dem councillors in favour of funding the three new cameras, and all Conservative councillors voting against.

Cllr Johnson said after the meeting "It is very disappointing that the Conservatives are dragging their heels over expanding our CCTV system, especially when the Council's own Residents' Survey shows that this year residents put 'tackling crime' top of their list of priorities. The Tories were happy to spend over £1 million on the prestige new reception area at the Council Offices, but are trying to pass the buck to the hard-pressed police to fund more CCTV coverage."

The Scrutiny Committee's recommendations will be considered by the Council's Conservative Executive on 3 August, and the full Council will decide the amount of funding to commit to CCTV. Cllr Johnson says "We have two further opportunities to argue the case for additional CCTV cameras, and I hope the Tories can be persuaded to think again."