COLNE TOWN COUNCIL resolved to invest in a new, high definition CCTV system for Colne Town Centre at its Full Council last week.
Pendle Borough Council intends to switch off its 15 year old system later this year.
Chairman of Colne Town Council, Cllr. Sarah Cockburn-Price, explained: “We consulted the local Police for advice on what kind of system would be best for them. They were unequivocal that the system should be available to them and monitored in Colne.”
Councillors asked to Police to prioritise the areas to site to the new CCTV and were clear that this would not be a one off investment, but a system with potential for growth. To test the market, a tender was produced which emphasised ease of upgrading and extending the new system, so regular improvements can be made.
“Even though we scrutinised the various solutions that resulted from the tender process”, said Cllr. Cockburn-Price, “we still didn’t know whether most councillors would want to install a system covering the whole town centre, a partial system that could be extended in the future, or indeed, no system at all. At our Full Council, most councillors opted for the full, town-wide system. At almost £70,000, this is, by quite some way, the biggest investment the Town Council has ever made.”
The winning tender was Grantfen and features innovations such as ability to view footage on tablets and ‘phones, cameras that can adjust for different lighting conditions and clever software that can track individuals or vehicles. There will be two monitoring stations – one in the Town Hall and one in Colne’s Police Station. The tenders were scored following a rigorous system analysing their technical attributes, which was devised by new Colne Clerk and Town Council CEO, Colin Hill.
Cllr. Joe Cooney, Chairman of Finance & Employment Committee said: “I am immensely enthusiastic about this new CCTV for Colne. We are a happy, vibrant town with a burgeoning night-time economy. It is important people feel safe and secure when they come to Colne. I shall shortly be launching a volunteer recruitment scheme, so the cameras’ output can be monitored on the busiest nights of the week. The rest of the time, we will be recording and archiving, but unlike the old system, we will have images from every direction on each pole.”
Inspector Paul Goodall said: “We welcome this development and I am glad my officers were involved in creating a system spec. Being able to tap into an incident live at the Station, or via tablet or ‘phone footage, should be a game-changer for us.”
