Following two recent incidents of vandalism in the village centre, which unfortunately were not captured by the CCTV cameras, concerns were raised about the the effectiveness of the system which costs local tax payers £5500 a year.
As a result local councillors visited the control room at Macclesfield Town Hall and subsequently invited Stuart Hobson, manager of the CCTV control room, to attend the Parish Council meeting on Monday 9th April to brief the other councillors, address concerns about the current service and discuss the forthcoming contract.
Stuart Hobson stated that he felt the CCTV in Alderley Edge worked very well, with a number of successes to date, which had not been made public. However, it was unfortunate that on two occasions concerning vandalism of the planters, CCTV footage was either unavailable or of too poor quality to assist police.
Cheshire East Council is investing in new technology which will improve the picture quality which means the cameras in Alderley Edge will be upgraded as part of the current contract. The upgrade is expected to be complete by the end of May.
Stuart Hobson suggested that Alderley Edge Parish Council signs another three year contract to help support the Cheshire East Council investment into the new equipment and technology. However, a one year contract was also offered as an option which Alderley Edge Parish Council decided to take.
There was also discussion about the using CCTV cameras to target traffic offences in problem areas, such as the one-way streets in Alderley Edge.
Stuart Hobson agreed to ensure that CCTV reports are submitted to the Parish Councillor on a quarterly basis and to push forward with plans for temporary CCTV coverage in the park over the summer months.
Having discussed the improvements they need to see from the CCTV system and alternative provision, the Parish Council concluded that the only viable alternative to the Cheshire East Council contract was self-installation of CCTV which would likely be unmonitored and so they agreed that they would express concerns to CEC and Stuart Hobson regarding perceived shortfalls in service to date and therefore to renew the CEC contract for one year.
Councillor Rachael Grantham said "The Parish Council discussed the effectiveness of the CCTV in great detail. We did have our concerns prior to Stuarts visit; however, we were relieved to hear that the CCTV centre and the police are continually in contact with each other.
"In future, we will be receiving quarterly reports, detailing the number of observations and any subsequent action taken (e.g. referral of footage to the police). We have therefore decided to monitor and review the service over the next twelve months, with a view to agreeing a three-year contract from next year, provided the service is shown to meet the expectations of councillors and residents."
Subsequent to the meeting Councillor Craig Browne has received an Incident Report from the CCTV control room at Macclesfield Town Hall. This shows that during the final quarter of 2017, there were 33 incidents picked up by the CCTV system in Alderley Edge.
Councillor Craig Browne said "In spite of a couple of recent glitches, I hope these figures will help provide some reassurance to residents, that the CCTV system is functioning effectively."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
it from Stevens Street! This is a regular daily thing now. Taxi drivers and
even some people that live on the one way streets!
Thanks for your comment. We raised this issue with our PCSO, Anna Jenkinson at the last Parish Council meeting. She took a note of all the one way streets in the village and promised us she would pay attention to this issue and report back in her next monthly report.
Kind regards,
Rachael
Look forward to seeing the Q1 2018 incident report to see if there a pattern of incidents sent to the Police.
Smart move by our PC to just sign up for one year and see if there's any measurable results for the continuing investment .
Hobson's Choice!
I was sat outside Costa today and photographed a small red car (I have its registration number) exiting Stevens street the wrong way (16:00 21/5/18). Co-incidentally i then shopped at Waitrose were two PCSOs including Anna were parked up so I have passed a clear photo of the car with a readable registration number to facilitate its details to be obtained). If would be interesting to see/hear what actions are taken by the police in this regard.
Please anyone advise whether I should upload this picture to any website were transgressors are reported.