East Lothian Courier | News | CCTV sites identified

Tuesday, 6th January, 2009

Published: Thursday, 15th May, 2008 08:05

CCTV sites identified

COMMUNITY councillors in Cockenzie and Port Seton have chosen their top six ‘hot-spots’ for anti-social behaviour-busting CCTV cameras to be sited.

The community council discussed the issue at its meeting last Tuesday, after receiving a request for their preferred camera locations from East Lothian Council’s community response supervisor, Raymond McGill.

The car park at the Lothian, Borders and Angus Co-operative store on Links Road, Port Seton was the community council’s first choice, as it is an area with longstanding problems of anti-social behaviour.

To improve monitoring of this area even further, it was also agreed that a camera be installed next to the petrol station on the other side of the road, pointing back towards the supermarket.

Community council chairman Gordon Campbell explained: “This will make sure that as much of that part of Links Road is covered as possible.”

The community council chose the following sites in order of preference: 1 The car park of the Co-op on Links Road; 2 In the vicinity of Links Road Garage; 3 Port Seton Centre; 4 West Harbour Road; 5 The Promenade and 6 Goolwa Park.

The other area considered was Cockenzie Primary School, but the community council agreed with member Paula McLay when she said that cameras at the school were “not really necessary”.

“There are already cameras recording what goes on there, even if it is not regularly monitored,” she told the meeting.

A spokewoman for East Lothian Council said that the local authority was liaising with both police and the community council on the issue of CCTV coverage.

She said: “We at the council have had various meetings with the community council and the police to get their advice about possible locations for cameras.

“We require a list of locations from them, so that we can look at it and then obtain costings for the necessary work.

“The police will also provide statistics relating to the various locations, which will help identify the areas of greatest need.”

A sum of £272,000 has been set aside by East Lothian Council for new CCTV provision at various county locations.

The council spokeswoman stressed that although the community council had identified six areas for the installation of the cameras, it did not necessary follow that there would be six sites.

“We would expect the work to done next summer, 2009,” she added.

“There will therefore be ongoing consultation with the police and community council before then, so that we can ensure a ‘best-fit’ for their requirements as the work is being driven by the community.”

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