Kawerau Security camera upgrade awaits funding approval
24 February 2015
UPGRADES to Kawerau’s security camera network are on hold while the Kawerau District Council awaits the result of two funding applications.
Operations and services manager Tom McDowall told councillors about the applications during a regulatory and services committee meeting on February 10.
He said the tender for Kawerau’s security camera network extension closed at the end of January, after the council agreed to the upgrade during a meeting in October last year.
This included six new cameras and upgrades to the existing 13, plus a new data storage unit to support the network.
An application for financial assistance was being considered by Eastern Bay Energy Trust, which could not fund projects retrospectively, Mr McDowall said.
Police had also indicated a willingness to assist with some of the costs and installation would begin as soon as the outcomes were received.
A review of the council’s security camera network began in 2013 after councillors raised concerns about the camera’s limited coverage of the town’s central business district and poor-quality footage.
Mr McDowall said the improved camera quality and coverage would improve the police apprehension rate and lead to a reduction in unsavoury behaviour.
Once the changes were complete, the system would be connected to the Rotorua police station, which monitors feeds from a number of networks around the Eastern Bay.
Mayor Malcolm Campbell said he was impressed when he visited the Rotorua police facility recently.
He said the cameras would not be watched closely all the time, but having the Kawerau footage in the system meant someone would keep an eye on it.
Source: Whakatane Beacon