CALLS are being made for an open public meeting to discuss proposals for a CCTV system in Haslemere to prevent the town council from "riding roughshod" over residents' concerns.

Town councillor Stephen Mulliner believes that a special meeting should be held where police can provide people with details of the crime prevention scheme and take part in a question-and-answer session.

A presentation of the possible surveillance system by police to councillors caused controversy recently when the town council decided to hold the meeting behind closed doors.

But Mr Mulliner says it was a meeting to which the public would normally have access.

He told The Herald that the issue of allowing access to the public was discussed only seven days before the presentation and claims it would have been "impossible to give adequate notice".

He said: "It would also have been quite improper to have relied on the potential admittance of a few members of the public to the August 30 presentation as evidence that the public had been adequately consulted on CCTV on this occasion."

At the presentation last week, the town council was told it would have to pay at least £14,000 for a CCTV system that could be used at other crime hotspots in places such as Farnham and Godalming.

And maintenance costs are expected to reach between £10,000 and £15,000 over a five-year period.

Councillors were told that the mobile camera would be shared with other areas in the district.

The town council will have to pay for the cost of the camera which police could remove to place in other towns within 15 minutes.

But Jacquie Keen said the mobile camera system may actually benefit the town.

She said it would be a "win -win situation" for Haslemere as the town would benefit from lower maintenance and insurance costs. She pointed out that lower crime rates in nearby towns would have a positive impact on Haslemere.

Waverley crime prevention officer Pc John Robini was keen to stress that the camera would have to be used in a wider area than just Haslemere.

He said: "If there was a spate of crimes in Godalming or Farnham, we might need to move the camera to those areas until we had tackled that problem."

However, he said that if Haslemere suffered from an increased number of crimes, it would be able to borrow cameras from other towns.

Councillors, residents and traders have been keen to see the introduction of CCTV following numerous cases of vandalism in the town.

Last November thousands of pounds' worth of damage was inflicted on shops throughout the High Street, West Street and Lower Street in a mindless rampage.

On New Year's Eve a further three business were hit. Some traders believe these incidents could have been prevented by 24-hour surveillance in the town.

Now calls are being made for a public meeting to discuss the possibility of CCTV in Haslemere.

Stephen Mulliner believes the public should be given the opportunity to discuss the proposals with police.

He said: "Such a meeting should be held with proper notice and publicity at a suitable venue such as the Haslemere Hall.

"The Haslemere Hospital meetings had several weeks' notice and CCTV is probably as emotive for some residents.

"I appreciate that public consultation about CCTV has been carried out in the past but that was over three years ago and it would be presumptuous to assume that public opinion could not have changed."

He added: "I suspect that only a minority of Haslemere residents have objections to CCTV.

"However, the town council should not ride roughshod over sincere libertarian concerns and there is no need to rush the issue.

"Haslemere has done without CCTV for centuries. Another few weeks will not matter."

If the council eventually decides to purchase the CCTV unit with Waverley police, a meeting will be held to decide on the best site for the camera.

The plans were due to be discussed again at a meeting of the town council last night (Thursday).