City of Cockburn residents will soon be able to apply for a subsidy to help with the cost of installing Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) security to their homes.
The subsidy is part of the City of Cockburn’s Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan 2022-2027 (CSCPP) adopted by Council at its Ordinary Meeting on 9 March.
Mayor, Logan Howlett said the plan would enable the City to continue improving community safety as part of its Strategic Community Plan.
“We know community safety is a high priority for Cockburn residents from the results of annual community and customer service scorecard surveys. As a result the City has implemented a series of community safety plans over several years to address this very important issue,” Mayor Howlett said.
“The plan supersedes the previous Community Safety and CCTV Strategy 2017-2022 which achieved all its objectives ahead of time, including a revamped CoSafe community safety and security patrol service, contributing to the City’s reputation as a leading local government in community safety,” he said.
Council says the subsidy will be covered by a $200,000 budget spread across the life of the plan and will be available to residents from 1 July.
It will supplement the Seniors Security Subsidy Scheme which enables pensioner concession and seniors card holders to apply for up to $200 (or $300 if installing roller shutters) per property per year to help improve home security.
The City has more than 700 CCTV cameras, including 500 fixed security cameras, 12 rapid deployment kits and 30 mobile cameras. The 2022-2027 plan will enable the network to be extended to another 18 locations.
The plan includes an Aboriginal ranger traineeship program to help the City maintain and improve community partnerships and relationships across its suburbs.
The community was consulted on the draft plan at community drop-in sessions and presentations and via a survey on the City’s Comment on Cockburn community consultation website, with support expressed by 68.5% of participants, including 26 submissions, plus 515 website visits.
The plan was also presented to the City of Cockburn Crime Prevention Reference Group whose members include WA Police, Cockburn Gateway, Perron Group, Department of Justice and the Department of Education.
The cost to implement the plan is estimated at $3.64 million, with about $1.59 million allocated to the expansion of CCTV in public open spaces and key activity areas.
