By Tanya Steele and Mikayla van Loon
Strategy, funding, sustainability, long term maintenance and who exactly is responsible? Week four of the Star Mail campaign continues to explore and determine the value of CCTV in the Yarra Ranges.
With the Federal election yet to be called , candidates for Casey were approached by Star Mail to offer their thoughts on the system.
All four supported the idea of reestablishing the network, in some form or another, with varying ideas from each candidate on how they would approach the issue.
Greens Candidate Merran Blair said she would support reestablishment of the network, supporting a whole system approach which includes other crime prevention strategies, while Labor Candidate Naomi Oakley said she would commit to ‘advocate strongly’ for the necessary funding to maintain the effectiveness of Casey’s community CCTV systems.
Community Independent Claire Ferres Mile supported ‘strategic investment’ in Casey, alongside current Member for Casey Liberal Aaron Violi who said the Liberal Party is committed to bringing back the original programme which funded the cameras.
The network originally promised to keep the community safe and deter crime in the Yarra Ranges and was funded by an election promise by former Casey MP Tony Smith across three election periods.
After final funding was received in 2019, the Star Mail has since heard stories from township groups, police and community advocates of what has now become a run down, disconnected and in many cases, unusable system.
Mr Violi said he’s heard a lot in the last two and a half years from community members about their concerns around crime, all across the electorate, but in areas like Healesville, the new traders group were advocating really strongly, with some break-ins there.
“It’s come through loud and clear, and the cameras when they were announced previously, were very popular and did make a difference,” he said.
Mr Violi is currently running a petition to reinstate the Safer Communities Program, which aims to improve community safety and address crime through funding.
“I’ve been engaging with the local police and the local council and traders to try and find a solution based on the feedback from the previous funding commitments,” said Mr Violi.
“One of the challenges is sustaining the ongoing funding, and also who’s going to ultimately take responsibility for the maintenance, acknowledging that all technologies have a shelf life and they only last so long.”
Independent Claire Ferres Miles said she supports strategic investment for Casey, which is well considered, strategic and developed in collaboration across all three levels of government.
Greens Candidate Merran Blair said she would support re-establishing the CCTV network and ensuring that funding is allocated for its maintenance.
“It is important to also consider our broader crime prevention strategies and assess the potential benefits of the network,” she said.
“This will help make sure the system is not relied upon to prevent crime and can be used to support the community in as many ways as possible.”
“For example, making sure we have other measures in place to minimise crime and keep our streets safe whilst supporting the safety of our communities.”
“If we don’t take a holistic approach, CCTV would just be a band aid solution.”
Labor Candidate Naomi Oakley said she is committed to advocating strongly for the necessary funding to maintain the effectiveness of Casey’s community CCTV systems and as a former police member of 12 years, she appreciates the role CCTV cameras play in both community safety and policing.
“I put keeping the community safe at the top of my priority list,” she said.
With rising cost of living across the Yarra Ranges, traders and township groups see the value of the networks but are struggling to be responsible for the upkeep of them.
This has created a need for the system to be thoroughly reviewed and reworked, with a clear plan for ongoing funding and maintenance laid down.
Member for Casey Aaron Violi said the Liberal Party has committed to the Safer communities program, which the current government cut.
“The cameras were funded originally through the Safer Communities program – we’ve committed to bringing that programme back around specific announcements for our community,” he said.
“I’ll continue to work with the Coalition and also with local council, traders and the local police, and make sure that if we do make a commitment, it’s an ongoing, sustainable programme moving into the future.”
Ms Ferres Miles said the CCTV network in Casey is a prime example of a ‘sugar hit’ of Federal funding, good for a headline but the reality is there was no plan to operate, maintain nor update the system after they were first installed.
“From an investment of $1.2 million, it is appalling that we now have CCTV cameras across the electorate that are broken, turned off, not connected to police, old technology and unusable – what a waste of public money.”
For the Greens, Ms Blair put forward an interesting suggestion to utilise the network for other things such as bushfire detection.
“Residents of Casey face significant risk from climate change and early detection of bushfires within our native forests is also important for keeping residents safe,” she said.
“This is something else that should be considered.”
Ms Oakley for Labor said securing one-off funding isn’t enough and she would take several steps to approach the issue.
“I would convene a meeting of the interested parties, Yarra Ranges Council, Police and the appropriate State and Federal departments to seek a sustainable longer term plan for our CCTV assets,” she said.
“That longer term plan should not simply be about a longer term funding source, but include a review of how we integrate our use of cameras with other actions we can take to encourage safety awareness.”
Liberal’s Mr Violi also said the biggest opportunity going forward is to make sure there’s an ongoing sustainable model around who maintains and has responsibility for maintenance.
“The police would maintain responsibility for monitoring the cameras,” he said.
“I think there’s also a legitimate concern some members of the community have around their privacy and around their security.”
“You want to make sure that the maintenance of those cameras, but also the access to the footage is only through Victoria Police with really stringent requirements.”
Ms Ferres Miles said asking township groups to pay for CCTV insurance and asking the Council and police to find money to pay for operations and maintenance is not fair.
“It is beholden on all elected representatives to be stewards of public money – to be making decisions for the long term not for a headline to buy votes.
Ms Blair said someone needs to take responsibility for its ongoing maintenance and a business case needs to be established.
“Once we can establish a business case for the benefit of the system we may have a better idea of who might be best placed to take on the responsibility of its long term upkeep,” she said.
Ms Oakley said her plan would include ensuring communities are proactive and she would encourage closer connections between the Police and the community
“I would also encourage and promote the local CCTV register, that enables local private and business owners to register their private CCTV systems. This will aid Police in their investigations,” she said.
The Star Mail campaign for CCTV network in the Yarra Ranges will carry on for two more weeks, exploring other takes on the issue as the community continues to call for upgrades and accountability.
