Bognor Regis CCTV camera cash is doubled for year

Town councillors have agreed to recommend doubling their spending on the anti-crime measure, to £4,000, in the coming financial year.

The recommendation to spend the extra £2,000 on the cameras’ operation was referred from a full council meeting to the council’s environment and leisure committee to ratify.

But councillors made it clear they were unhappy about the demand from Arun District Council for the extra money.

Cllr Adam Cunard said: “I’m not happy with the pressure put on us for more money but we are caught between a rock and a hard place because we could lose the cameras otherwise.”

He negotiated a reduction from Arun’s original demand for an additional £4,600 towards the cost of keeping the 12 cameras around the town centre and seafront operating.

Cllr Paul Wells said: “It is not acceptable behaviour to threaten the town council with the loss of the cameras.

“We make a huge amount of contributions towards a lot of things around the town that have been cut by Arun.”

Cllr Roger Nash said: “It pains me but as a council we have little alternative but to contribute this financial year.

“If we didn’t, we would be in the situation where the cameras would be turned off and that would make the town less safe and fewer people would come into it.”

Cllr David Edwards said the town centre’s traders should be asked to put some money towards the cameras.

He congratulated Cllr Cunard for achieving a £2,600 reduction in the town council’s extra contribution.

The Observer reported last month (FEB) Arun’s desire for the town council to make a 50:50 contribution towards the cameras’ costs in keeping with the amount paid by other local councils with cameras in their areas.