Whakatāne District Council wants to know if the proposed locations and order of priority for new community safety cameras (also known as CCTV) are correct before the Mayor and Councillors make final decisions next month.
The Council was successful in receiving $1 million from the Department of Internal Affairs Better Off Funding package to deliver and upgrade the existing network with modern cameras, add additional cameras to the network and improve system monitoring abilities.
The draft design has been created based on extensive input from NZ Police, a series of workshops with key community members, drop-in sessions for other community members and key safety data. Independent experts have also been involved throughout the process to provide advice based on similar projects in other parts of Aotearoa.
Project Manager, Ian Morton, says it has been a robust process that now requires a conclusive ‘sense check’ with the Whakatāne District communities to ensure the final design meets the needs of those with security concerns.
“The camera 'wishlist' has been prioritised in order of importance - critical, high, medium and low,” Mr Morton explains. “We're now asking the wider community to consider the plans and determine if we've got it about right in terms of location and priority. I encourage anyone who is interested to visit koreromai.whakatane.govt.nz and tell us what you think.”
This phase of engagement closes at 5pm Wednesday, 14 June, and all feedback received will be reviewed and potentially incorporated into the final designs. The Mayor and Councillors will make the final decisions on Wednesday, 6 July at an Ordinary Council meeting.
Mr Morton says that while not all proposed cameras will fit within the Better Off Funding budget, there could be opportunity for alternative funding streams in the future.
"We're really hoping that most of the cameras categorised as critical or high priority will be able to be installed this year," he states. "There are other funding avenues that could address those in the medium or low priority areas in coming years."
More information, including the project background and answers to frequently asked questions, is available on the Council website.