ALTON Town Council has resolved to take the lead on delivering a CCTV system in Alton within two years. And last week, chairman of the ATC-lead crime and disorder working party John Smith, gave an on- target progress report. He told Alton's annual meeting of electors that the decision to revisit the question of close circuit television had been made in partnership with Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the police, Hampshire county youth workers and the Alton Town Partnership. Together they had come to the conclusion that a need had developed for a CCTV system in those parts of the town centre that had been subject to crime and antisocial behaviour. The subject had first been broached in 2000, but an application for funding had been turned down by the Home Office, based on the ability of the town to cover ongoing maintenance costs. Chamber of commerce members had brought the subject back to the drawing board by looking at a more modest scheme using independent cameras fitted to public buildings and shops that could be linked and monitored using broadband. The advantages associated with a conventional system supported by the local authority and the police would be the ability to direct cameras onto public places without falling foul of personal privacy laws. And that the cameras could be high resolution – a requirement put forward by the police if film footage is to be used as evidence to gain convictions in court. The crime and disorder working party had obtained several quotes for a conventional system ranging from £80,000 to £120k, with ongoing costs, including round the clock monitoring, in the region of £40k per annum. According to Smith, monitoring suites in both Basingstoke and Hart had confirmed that they would be able to provide monitoring services for an Alton CCTV system. Work is currently in progress to identify funding sources. Alton Town Council had agreed to put aside £15k for the scheme. The next step was to apply to the council for a community initiatives fund grant of £15,000 and to explore the possibility of obtaining a policy and resources grant. Mr Smith said: "It goes without saying that we will be working closely with the chamber of commerce on the scheme and hope that traders in the town will be able to show their support by way of contributions. "We do not have a lot of crime in Alton, but there is anecdotal evidence that the town is being targeted by criminals because it doesn't have CCTV." The presentation met with mixed response from electors. Dr James Willis was concerned that having set up a CCTV system there would be pressure for it to escalate. He said he had lived and worked in the town for 30 years and never felt unsafe when walking there at night. He said: "If we treat the young of Alton as criminals we will be sending out a very powerful message." Bob Evans said there was a time when he would have agreed with Dr Willis but a recent experience of walking through the town centre at midnight had left him feeling intimidated. He said: "I believe the decision to extend late night opening (for pubs) has had a very bad effect in Alton." A group of elderly residents from Fielders Court agreed with him. They lived in close proximity to four pubs and claimed that every night they were subjected to antisocial behaviour. They spoke of garden furniture being thrown into the nearby river, gangs of youths congregating on benches and swinging on washing lines, and of 80- year old residents too terrified to sleep. "After midnight it is just terrible – it's the fear factor and we are having to live with it all the time," said a spokesman. It was generally agreed however that the foot patrol presence in the town of Alton's new police community support officers was helping to address the fear of crime. Speaking at the meeting community officers Andrea Harrison and Carl Stevens confirmed that the town centre "dispersal order" had proved a useful tool in addressing problems of antisocial behaviour and that high-resolution cameras would help. There was some impatience expressed on behalf of the chamber of commerce by secretary, Stephen Lewis, who said that some retailers felt that an additional two years was too long to wait for CCTV. He said: "We are ready to invest now to kick-start the beginning of a modest broadband system to help protect town centre premises against vandalism." John Smith believed there could be a case for introducing an integrated scheme combining a conventionally monitored high-resolution system in strategic town centre locations supported by a broadband scheme – the feeling was that the key to success would definitely be in partnership working.
