WYNDHAM council will develop a $30,000 policy to help attract funding for CCTV cameras, after an Ombudsman’s report found local government surveillance systems were badly operated and regulated.
But the council has not said whether it will reconsider police requests for a new camera at Watton Street that could be co-ordinated out of the Werribee station.
Council’s chief executive Kerry Thompson said the recent report had prompted the inclusion of a CCTV policy in the draft 2013-14 budget.
“It became clear Wyndham City needed a policy covering when and where CCTV would be installed and its ongoing operation after installation,” she said. Ms Thompson said a review would also identify changes needed for existing CCTV installations.
Police made the case for a CCTV camera on the corner of Watton Street last October after the announcement of $3 million in state government grants to boost council surveillance networks. The extra funding was made available after the death of Brunswick woman Jill Meagher, whose last known movements were captured on a Sydney Road shop’s security camera.
Watton Street nightspots Mynt Lounge and the Park Hotel have supported the push for police-operated CCTV cameras on the strip. Police rely on footage and information provided by venues, including 16 CCTV cameras and an ID-scanning machine at Mynt Lounge and 36 cameras at Park Hotel.
Wyndham’s Inspector Damian Christensen said Watton Street was not considered “high-risk”, but he had nominated it because there were licensed premises, a transport hub, taxi precinct and railway crossings.
