All but one of Newbury's CCTV cameras are now working
Council insists 'challenging project' will result in an improved service and deliver savings
WEST Berkshire Council has announced that 20 of its 21 CCTV cameras are now working, following the transfer of the CCTV control room at Newbury to Windsor and Maidenhead in December last year.
The transfer, which saw the old analogue system in Newbury town hall transfer to a new digital control room in Windsor, has been plagued with teething problems that may have resulted in criminal activities going unmonitored during the Christmas period.
But Susan Powell, West Berkshire Council's Safer Communities Partnership team manager, told Newbury Town Council at a meeting in the town hall last night (Monday) that 20 of the 21 CCTV cameras were now working.
She said cables to 21st camera had been damaged and would either be replaced or linked to the Windsor CCTV control room wirelessly.
“This project was always going to be challenging but it will deliver an improved service and will also deliver significant savings,” she said.
“The whole CCTV transfer project is highly complex, including the upgrade of the old analogue cameras to digital.
“There wasn't a complete break in service because a number of Newbury cameras were transferred before the Newbury CCTV control room closed.
“Thames Valley Police officers have been kept fully aware of the CCTV coverage both in Newbury town centre and other areas every step of the way.”
The one-off costs of the move are estimated to be about £200,000, although the district council has previously said that the closure of the Newbury hub would save about the same amount each year.
Earlier this month, West Berkshire Council Council's Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission announced that it would carry out a review of the transfer of the CCTV control room.
The review will examine the project plan, the public communications plan, what level of uptime was expected/planned for during transition, and whether the council's standard project methodology was used for the project.
The results are to be fed back to the council's executive .
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