Shropshire Star

New CCTV system plan for Chirk to save cash

Chirk's CCTV cameras could be run by in conjucntion with a neighbouring council in a bid to save money and create a bigger and better system.

Published

Several ideas are being looked at by Chirk Town Council, including teaming up with Oswestry Town Council, which has halved its CCTV bill by installing a new Wifi system.

Chirk has two cameras, one in the town centre and one by the leisure centre, run by Wrexham County Borough Council. It has asked Chirk for a contribution of more than £5,000 to keep them running.

The decision to ask rural community councils to contribute to the camera system, while urban cameras continue to be funded by the county borough, angered some Chirk members.

At a meeting in Chirk Parish Hall this week, councillors agreed they would opt out of the county borough scheme and look at launching their own CCTV system.

Councillor Jackie Allen, a member of the CCTV task group, said there had already been talks with specialists.

"We think that for the same amount of money we could install and run a new system in the first year. Then the cost would go down in future years," she said.

Councillor Allen added: "The idea is to have a base station which could incorporate up to eight cameras. We would have two cameras initially but there would be no reason why we couldn't expand in the future."

Other councillors suggested that private business could also join the Chirk system to help protect their own premises.

Town clerk Sam Hughes said he had been talking to the clerk from Oswestry Town Council which had installed new cameras in the past 12 months.

He said that councillors were invited to visit the Oswestry Town Council CCTV control room.

"Oswestry has installed its own system recently and there is the possibility that our cameras could be monitored from its control room," he said.

Oswestry saw the relaunch ceremony of its major CCTV system in October following a successful £68,000 funding bid by the town council to the West Mercia police and crime commissioner, Bill Longmore.

Monitored from a control room inside the town's police station, the system has a dozen cameras. It is recognised as one of the best volunteer-run CCTV systems in Britain, Mr Longmore said.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.