EIGHT security cameras for the bay island jetties remain uninstalled after 15 months because of a funding debacle.
The Bay Islands Chamber of Commerce used a $10,000 grant from the federal government’s Safer Communities Fund to buy the cameras.
Boxes to house the equipment were bought with a $700 grant from Cr Mark Edwards but no money is available to install the cameras on the four island’s jetties.
Chamber vice-president Col McInnes said he was angry that councillors had agreed to pay for the electrical work. This has been denied by council. “My pet hate is people saying they are going to do something and then they don’t, ” he said.
READ MORE: Funding feud over Weinam Creek CCTV
A council spokesperson cited a resolution from October last year in which council agreed the chamber could install the equipment on the jetties and waiting sheds.
“The agreement with the Chamber of Commerce has always been that council would give permission for them to install cameras on council’s assets, providing council was not responsible for installing, maintaining and monitoring the cameras,” the spokesperson said.
The chamber had asked the federal government for a project extension and were trying to get money for the installation.
Mr McInnes said Cr Edwards had agreed to pay $3000 from the 2018-19 budget but this left a significant shortfall as the preferred supplier quote was $9200.
While council is yet to develop a policy on CCTV in public spaces, it has 160 cameras across the city to protect council assets. Most are at libraries, council offices and depots and waste transfer stations.
Four cameras were recently installed at the Bayview Conservation Area, angering Cr Wendy Boglary who has been pushing for CCTV at Wellington Point.
“How could this installation go ahead without a policy when others have been asking for cameras for years?” she said.
Cr Boglary said she was frustrated at the time it had taken for policy to be written and presented to councillors.
A council spokesperson said the Bayview cameras were installed to protect council assets in a remote and isolated area.
Redlands MP Kim Richards said council should put CCTV in hotspots like other councils in south-east Queensland “starting with installing the cameras sitting in boxes and destined for Weinam Creek”.