Member question: Councillor M Kellaway, received 14/11/2016
Subject: CCTV Coverage
Can you ask the following in response to the shameful reply from the cabinet member: I assume the cabinet member is happy to waste circa 7million of the public’s money but a one line reply is unacceptable and disrespectful of all those employees who have lost their jobs under this administration, the cuts endured by the vulnerable the lost bus services and community services.
The reply only partly addresses minor element of the questions I put to the cabinet member and so I repeat the un addressed questions.
- Can the cabinet member confirm when was the last time he visited the areas he refers to as “isolated areas with no lampposts”.
- Has the cabinet member approached outside agencies or landowners for partnership arrangements that could support and assist the council in eradicating flytipping in areas that this council ought to be proud of.
- By the tone of the response the cabinet member has given up on the residents on the outer edges of the city can he confirm if this is the case? if not what measures will he be taking to address the issue of flytipping and the safety issues relating to it, and in doing so save the city millions of pounds in the process allowing us to support the more vulnerable in our society.
Response:
- It’s irrelevant when I last visited these areas personally. The technical advice from my officers is that CCTV cameras cannot be located in rural areas because there are no lamp posts on which to attach them and no source of electricity/Wi-Fi to power them.
- I don’t understand what types of “partnership arrangements” with outside agencies or landowners the councillor is referring to. If it’s in relation to more general arrangements regarding fly-tipping and waste management, then that is a matter for the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Transport. However, if he is alluding to the possibility of installing CCTV cameras on private land, by agreement with the landowners, then they would still not provide an effective means of detecting offenders.
- Please refer to my previous answers and also the information provided by the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Transport about the measures being taken to address these issues through Pride in Newport. These measures are applied throughout the city area, including the rural areas. Therefore, it is not a question of “giving up”. However, we can only take effective enforcement action where people report incidents and identify vehicles or offenders, which is why we have introduced the dedicated “hot line”. Issued 24/11/2016
Member question: Councillor M Kellaway, received 7/11/2016
Subject: CCTV coverage
Can the cabinet member confirm when was the last time he visited the areas he refers to as 'isolated areas with no lampposts'.
Has the cabinet member approached outside agencies or landowners for partnership arrangements that could support and assist the council in eradicating flytipping in areas that this council ought to be proud of.
By the tone of the response the cabinet member has given up on the residents on the outer edges of the city can he confirm if this is the case? If not what measures will he be taking to address the issue of flytipping and the safety issues relating to it, and in doing so save the city millions of pounds in the process allowing us to support the more vulnerable in our society.
Response: Officers state that many of the areas that are subject to frequent fly tipping in outlying wards tend to be away from sources of electricity, making the deployment of CCTV difficult. Issued: 11 November 2016
Member question: Councillor M Kellaway, received 21/10/2016
Subject: CCTV coverage
- Does the cabinet member think it fair to have 37 CCTV cameras in the city centre areas whilst those residents who often pay the most in council tax have zero CCTVs that would clearly assist in catching and prosecuting fly-tippers.
- Does the cabinet member agree with the officer that the more remote wards that deserve a better service are not getting the CCTV coverage, why have these wards such as Llanwern been neglected by this administration.
Response:
- The CCTV cameras in the city centre are not there specifically to prevent /detect fly tipping, although they could incidentally. They are there to prevent /detect wider criminality/ antisocial behaviour: theft, disorder, alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour, vehicle crime etc., enhancing public safety and giving reassurance. Most, if not all, Newport residents (not just those who live in Stow Hill ward) use the city centre and benefit accordingly from the cameras and their 24/7 monitoring by council officers working closely with the police.
- CCTV coverage in more remote, rural wards would be extremely difficult to provide. The areas that are prone to fly tipping are down quiet, isolated lanes with no lamp posts etc. from which to source electricity/ Wi-Fi to power a camera. We have caught fly tippers in the past in more rural locations by way of residents noting vehicle registrations or the fly tipped material itself yielding evidence as to whence it came. We now have a Report a Fly-tipper 'hot line' that residents can use, additional to the contact centre, to leave information as to perpetrators, anonymously if they so wish. Issued: 4 November 2016
Member question: Councillor Kellaway, received 14/6/2016
Subject: CCTV Coverage for fly-tipping
Could I ask the CM, in response please, how does the cabinet member expect to deliver on this administrations promise of zero tolerance with just two CCTVs sited in a narrow area of the city when other Newport areas including rural areas expect and deserve to be treated in a fair and transparent way.
Response: (this was a joint reply from the CM for Environment, Sustainability & Transport and the CM for Regulatory Functions)
CCTV cameras - mobile or fixed, are only part of the means to combat, what is very challenging criminal behaviour. Overt cameras are a useful deterrent but they are expensive and need to be placed sufficiently high up to protect against vandalism. They can’t be used in rural areas as they need power. Hence they are usually placed on lamp columns to utilise the existing electricity source.
Even when perpetrators are captured on camera, prosecution can prove difficult. We do however take zero tolerance to any perpetrators and will not hesitate to prosecute if the evidence is there and we can identify them. We urge the public to help us with their vigilance; letting us have any names/descriptions of those involved or registration numbers of vehicles they see fly tipping. We will shortly be launching a fly tipping mobile phone hotline, allowing the public to leave messages and texts as to the identity of these criminals. We are also investigating the possibility of reintroducing the Pride in Newport team to help tackle this problem. Issued: 1 July 2016