Third time lucky for Lib Dem CCTV proposals

2.34.17pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 29th Aug 2006

Persistence paid off for Liberal Democrat councillors, when their proposal to fund more CCTV cameras was finally agreed by a meeting of the Borough Council last Thursday. The Liberal Democrat amendment to a recommendation from the Council's Executive means that three new CCTV cameras have been approved for funding by the Council: at the junction of London Road and York Road, at the Cathedral roundabout near the University, and at the Dover Arms Roundabout in Ash. The three CCTV cameras were regarded as top priority, and had been on the Council's 'wish list' since 2002.

The Lib Dems first proposed the extra cameras on 27 July at a meeting of the Community Development Scrutiny Committee, when a report on a review of CCTV was discussed. The Conservatives on the Committee voted down the proposal. Committee Chair Cllr Vivienne Johnson (Lib Dem, Christchurch) then urged the Conservative Executive to approve funding for the three cameras at their meeting on 3rd August, but was again rejected. It was only at the third time of asking, when Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Fiona White proposed the extra CCTV cameras at a meeting of the full Council, that the Conservatives changed their minds and agreed. Conservatives suggested that council officers should work with the police and the University to see if they can help with the capital costs - Lib Dem councillors expressed concern that this should not cause delay in getting the new cameras installed.

Cllr White comments "It was third time lucky for this proposal! I'm very pleased that funding for these extra cameras has finally been agreed, though it's a shame it's taken a month of persuasion to achieve it. The safety of the community should be a high priority for the council, and the CCTV system has been a huge success in improving town centre safety. We must now extend it to other places where it will help the police to protect the public from crime and anti-social behaviour."

Cllr White said that the University has provided a CCTV camera which looks inside the subway at Southway, which had been another council priority, and hoped that the council and the police would work closely with the University to make effective use of this camera. Cllr Tony Phillips (Lib Dem, Onslow) described some recent incidents in Onslow which might have been deterred by CCTV cameras, particularly a recent violent attack on the Ashenden footpath to Tesco's, and asked that the CCTV Review Group should consider providing more cameras in this area.