Cameras arrive after 15-year fight
CCTV cameras are being installed in Felixstowe today after a 15-year campaign for the crime-busting technology.
CCTV cameras are being installed in Felixstowe today after a 15-year campaign for the crime-busting technology.
Engineers are putting up four cameras in the town centre and seafront as part of a £36,000 project aimed at cutting vandalism, anti-social behaviour and thefts, making the area safer and nicer to visit.
It is hoped the system will be up and running in a week.
Doreen Savage, chairman of the CCTV task group, said: “It's absolutely brilliant - really good news for the town.
“Like a lot of things in Felixstowe, we have had a long wait for this, but now we have been able to bring it to fruition it will mean we are no longer a soft touch for people to come to our town and steal or commit vandalism.
“It will make people feel safer and is an important part of improving our town centre and seafront.”
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The four vandal-proof closed-circuit cameras have been funded by a Home Office grant.
One has been put in Undercliff Road West to keep an eye on the seafront and leisure centre area, and the others at Bank Corner, The Triangle and Hamilton Road between St Andrew's and Gainsborough Road junctions.
Mrs Savage said the system had been designed so it can be extended in future years if further funding becomes available.
“We will be looking at future grant opportunities to see if we can extend it to other areas of the town and add more cameras,” she said.
“At the moment we need to see how these first cameras work and can then build from there.”
Organisers are thrilled technology has improved so much and the costs reduced so dramatically over the years. Original schemes considered were costed at £340,000 and by now would have been out of date.
The Evening Star has backed the town's bid for CCTV and urged everyone to work together to provide it to give greater protection to the town centre.
What do you think of having CCTV in Felixstowe? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
