"SOMETIMES in life you have to put your hands up and say you got it wrong and I have to say we got it wrong with CCTV in Heilley." Those were the apologetic words from Trevor Askew, strategic manager at Stratford District Council, at a meeting of Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council on Monday night where he was a guest speaker, along with CCTV expert Andy Macnamara, of ADT Fire and Security. But it appears that Mr Askew's 'hands-up' was not enough for a smattering of councillors and residents who continued to find fault with the town's revised CCTV scheme.
The new plans would see a small CCTV camera put up on the side of the police station and a second, larger camera, with built-in automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), put up on the side of a building opposite St John's Church-preferably One Stop if the shop agrees. This replaces the previous, unpopular, proposal of putting a camera on top of a specially-erected pole outside the police station and placing a second camera on top of the Grade I listed St John's Church.
CCTV has proved a controversial topic in Henley for some time with councillors and residents at loggerheads over what design of camera to install in the town, coupled with all-out concern over erecting unsightly CCTV poles in a conservation area. The revised plans would see one camera in the domed design preferred by members of conservation group the Henley Society whilst the larger ANPR camera would remain in a design previously selected by the parish council and likened to a "prison camera" by opponents.
Members of the parish council voted in favour of the revised plans with one exception. ClIr Bill Leech argued that when district councillor for Heilley ClIr Stephen Thirlwell (Cons) asked for CCTV for the town he asked for it for the protection of the population, not for ANPR. He continued: "We have to have much more unsightly cameras for a facility we did not ask for."
John Stott, spokesperson for the Heilley Society, said he feared the parish council were putting too much store on ANPR. He explained that ANPR cameras were typically used to scan roads for vehicles linked to crimes at a later date rather than to capture the number plate of a fleeing car at the time of a crime.
Mr Macnamara admitted this was the case. "If the vehicle goes in the other way you have lost it," he said. "It might catch it or it might not. You would need to have three or four cameras allover the town." But ClIr David Hadley said: "This is the best deal we are going to get and we should go with it." Cllr Nick Haycock said the sooner Henley got the cameras the better.
It is hoped CCTV will be installed in the town by Christmas.
After the meeting Mr Stott said the revised plans were an improvement, chiefly because there would be no poles, but he was reserving further judgement until the planning application was submitted.
Report by Philippa Prankard - Stratford Herald - 23rd July 2009
