Council won’t be charging police for CCTV access

Welshpool Town Council has backed down on proposals to deny Dyfed-Powys Police access to their CCTV studios without payment.

A Care Committee proposal to lock the police out of the Town Hall studio followed last month’s meeting over CCTV developments with Police & Crime Commissioner Dafydd Llewellyn.

Councillors were upset to hear the Commissioner’s announcement that Welshpool was not at the top of his list of priority areas for rolling out a centrally controlled CCTV system across Dyfed and Powys.

A recommendation to write to the Police and Crime Commissioner giving one month’s notice that the Police will no longer have access to the CCTV system without paying for it at £25 a time was defeated at a full council meeting last night.

Town Clerk, Robert Robinson, said he had received a call from Inspector Scrase of Dyfed Powys Police earlier in the day offering assurances that Welshpool would be considered in the second phase of the roll-out scheme after Builth Wells and Newtown.

Councillor David Senior said the council would be making a massive mistake and he would not support the proposal. “When he was here we did not give the commissioner enough credit for the progress he has already made.

“We are in danger of making an enemy of a very influential person and certainly not working in the interests of the people of Welshpool,” he added. “The commissioner did not make the promises for Welshpool that we are accusing him of.”

Councillor Estelle Bleivas said: “I cannot support the motion. We have just had a spate of window smashing and it would not be realistic to ask the police to pay to look at the CCTV for minor crimes. We have a duty to our ward residents.”

Councillor Richard Church said the first priority should be the people of Welshpool. “The Commissioner never said we would be at the bottom of the pile. We need to be supportive of his plans.”

But Councillor Phil Pritchard described the statements as poppycock. “What you are all saying is poppycock. The previous commissioner went back on promises and there are no guarantees it will not happen again.

“We are abdicating our responsibilities as town councillors if we do not stick up for ourselves. Police have to pay in Shrewsbury to view the town’s CCTV and we should not allow ourselves to be bullied into changing our minds.”

The council voted 8-6 against the proposal.