Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly says there were no public objections lodged to the installation of CCTV cameras in the village of Kilcoole during his public meeting on the issue.
The meeting was held in the Kilcoole Community Centre last Monday (Dec 3rd). Deputy Donnelly explained, “Councillor Gerry Walsh and I arranged the meeting to gauge public reaction to recent suggestions to introduce CCTV in Kilcoole in an effort to combat crime. Evidence shows us that these cameras can help to significantly lower the rate of break-ins. However nothing of this nature should ever planned without the express consent of the community. That’s why we invited everyone, from local businesses, to local residents, to come meet us and have their say.
“On the night we explained that Government funding is available to the tune of one million Euro each year to install CCTV in so-called ‘at risk’ areas around the country. So far there has been a very low uptake nationwide, despite the fact that 60 percent of the funding is offered upfront by the Government, while 40 percent is supplied by the county council or local residents.
“Wicklow is proving more receptive however. Arklow was the first town in the county to apply for the grant. Blessington then followed and plans are well underway in Greystones to introduce CCTV there. In Kilcoole a quote has already been given to install cameras at a cost of €1,000 each. It’s estimated that 5 or 6 cameras would be needed, bringing the total cost easily below the €40,000 limit per area. Several key points for installation have also been suggested. These include: the bottom of Sea Road at the beach car park, Lott Lane, Main Street, Newcastle Road and Newtownmountkennedy Road.
“We know that the Government’s CCTV scheme isn’t perfect. It’s been no secret that there is conflict between the Gardaí and local authorities over control of the images collected by the cameras since the introduction of new data protection rules this summer. With that said though, when we offered people in Kilcoole the chance to express their opinions on the subject they overwhelmingly showed that, yes, thy do want to bring CCTV cameras to their village”, concluded Deputy Donnelly.
