CONFUSION remains over who will be monitoring the CCTV system proposed for Haslemere next month.
The cameras were expected to have been in place in June but were put on hold after Òtechnical difficultiesÓ delayed the scheme.
But three months later, members of the CCTV Partnership Enterprise Group are still undecided about who will be allowed to monitor the screens.
The crime prevention officer for Waverley, Pc John Robini, said: ÒWe have established that the camera should provide coverage of the High Street, and if we have crime problems elsewhere in the town we will be able to take the mobile system to where these problems are happening.Ó
But Pc Robini confirmed that so far no plans had been finalised about who would be watching the monitors.
ÒThe cameras could be monitored by members of the public who volunteer their time free of charge. This is how the Farnham system operates. But these volunteers would obviously have to be vetted by the police beforehand,Ó he said.
The Haslemere CCTV Partnership Enterprise Group, which includes representatives from the town council and the chamber of trade and commerce, is expected to meet to discuss the issue in time for the arrival of the system by the end of September.
A police spokesman said: ÒWe have made good progress with the scheme, the equipment has been bought and technical difficulties have been sorted out. We are expecting to launch the system next month.Ó
Haslemere town councillors decided at the end of last year to pump £16,000 of council taxpayersÕ money into the CCTV scheme, and are expected to pay in the region of £10,000 to £15,000 for maintenance costs over three years. The decision to support CCTV in the town was made after public consultations and meetings more than five years ago.
The system will be owned by Surrey police so should they decide there is a crime problem elsewhere in the borough, the camera can be moved from Haslemere until the problem is resolved.
Pc Robini explained that applications for planning permission to erect signs for the cameras had been submitted and work to identify whether the quality of radio coverage has also been completed.
ÒI would be very disappointed not to see the system up and running by the end of September,Ó he said.
Meanwhile, thieves and vandals targeting the Weydown Road car park in Haslemere will be caught in the act by a Waverley Borough Council-owned CCTV system.
The two cameras were recently installed in the crime hot spot car park, costing taxpayers £25,000.
Police will monitor footage from the cameras, which are capable of recording high quality images across the whole area of the car park. The police spokesman said: ÒItÕs too early to say whether the crime figures in the car park will go down, but we are very hopeful that soon we will see some positive effects.Ó
However, a spokesman for the borough council told The Herald that no crimes had been reported at Weydown Road car park since the cameras were installed nearly two weeks ago.