Issue - meetings

To receive a report on 30 CCTV cameras that highlights the issues that can impact on the effectiveness of CCTV surveillance (to follow)

The Committee was presented with a list of CCTV cameras which were being obstructed by obstacles such as trees and poor lighting issues. The cameras on the list were rated high, medium or low priority based on antisocial behaviour, community safety and public interest in the need for the camera.

The Community Safety Operations Manager explained that options available to the Council to address tree obstructions were to trim the tree, remove the tree subject to requirements of relevant tree preservation order (TPO); or move the camera. Any work that was possible would have to be conducted by Streetscape or Highways depending on which was responsible for the area. The Head of Safer Communities informed the Committee that a review of camera locations was currently been carried out based on crime and disorder statistics and camera suitability to determine whether cameras were worth keeping or needed to be moved to be most effective. It was expected that review of all 300 cameras in Cheshire East would be completed by October 2012 to feed into the Council’s budget process for the following year.

The Committee was pleased that a long term appraisal of cameras was being carried out however there was a need to deal with the short term problems of current cameras locations being obstructed by trees or poor lighting. The Committee believed that the CCTV service needed to develop better relationships with Streetscape, Highways and Planning to put procedures in place to deal with and monitor issues in an effective way. The Committee was informed that some work had begun on this recently and a pilot of the review was being carried out in Sandbach which would be completed in early June 2012.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Committee request a report by the Head of Safer Communities on the conclusion of the CCTV camera review be presented to the Committee in September 2012 before the review in finalised in October 2012. 

(b)  That the Committee receive a report by the Head of Safer Communities on the progress made to deal with the current obstructions to cameras and a plan for dealing with obstructions in future be presented to the Committee at its next meeting.           

(c)  That the Chairman write a letter to the Council’s Principal Forestry and Arboricultural Officer to express the Committee’s concern about the high number of obstructions to CCTV cameras caused by trees and request that measures be taken to assist in the removing of obstructions.