Today, Exmouth Town Council officially commissioned its new CCTV System which consists of 10 re-deployable wireless cameras, seven of which are situated strategically around the centre of the town and, for the first time, three on Exmouth Esplanade.
In 2018, East Devon District Council (EDDC) advised Exmouth Town Council that with effect from April 2021, it would cease funding of the CCTV (closed circuit television system) that it had installed in Exmouth some 30 years ago. The existing system had reached the end of its useful life and even though it is not a statutory requirement for the Town (or District Council) to provide CCTV, Exmouth Town Council felt it was important to continue to have a system for Exmouth which would contribute to community safety and therefore started investigating a potential replacement system.
The new cameras have been positioned on the existing stanchions previously used by EDDC, which has reduced the Town Council’s installation costs. We have sited seven cameras strategically around the town centre to give us a wider coverage of the public realm and a new camera on The Esplanade, with a further two to follow in September of this year, when the associated engineering works for two new stanchions have been completed. The cameras are high specification, re-deployable cameras which can be relocated to new positions in the town if needed. The cameras are made in the UK with UK manufactured parts.
The £76,000 cost of this new system has been funded by Exmouth Town Council with some of the costs offset by grants of £15,000 from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and £12,000 from Devon County Council’s Investing in Devon Programme. Exmouth Town Council’s new CCTV system was installed on Tuesday 27th of July 2021. Within six hours of it being commissioned at 16:30 on that day, one of the three cameras sited strategically in the Strand captured an assault on a man by individuals from a group of fifteen teenagers. The high-definition footage has been passed to the police who are conducting further enquiries into this incident.
Councillor Fred Caygill, Chairman of the Exmouth CCTV Working Party said:
“I am pleased that we are able to provide Exmouth police with high-definition footage of extremely high quality for evidence purposes to assist them in their enquiries regarding this incident. Hopefully the footage will result in the identification of the perpetrators of this assault, ensuring that they are held accountable for their actions. The safety of the community is very important for a town such as ours which relies on tourism as a major factor in its local economy. I am confident that this system will contribute to continuing to make Exmouth a safe and happy place to work and relax in.”
Jeff Trail, Chairman, Devon County Council said:
“This is an excellent project, led by Councillor Fred Caygill on behalf of Exmouth Town Council, to procure and implement a modern up-to-date wireless re-deployable CCTV System. I am pleased that we were able to contribute some funding to this project.”
Simon Jupp, MP said:
“We now have an impressive CCTV system that will improve community safety and assist the police in Exmouth to detect and identify those who have committed a crime. This will undoubtedly bring more people to justice and help make Exmouth an even better place to live, work and visit”.
