Story: Inishowen Independent
CCTV CAMERAS could soon
be installed in Buncrana in an effort to combat
ongoing anti-social behaviour in the town if local
town councillor Paul Bradley gets his way.
The long serving Fine Gael councillor told the
Inishowen Independent yesterday that he has been
contacted by several people in recent weeks who have
been concerned at the growth in the number of
disturbances in the town centre.
“People are being kept awake to all hours in the
morning and property is being damaged. Other towns
of similar size to Buncrana have installed CCTV
systems and have successfully lowered the number of
disturbances and anti-social behaviour,” he said.
Councillor Bradley who also operates the Eurospar
store off St. Mary’s Road, says he will now raise
the matter of CCTV installation at the next town
council meeting and believes he will receive support
for the proposal.
Already councillor Peter McLaughlin and Deputy Joe
McHugh have come on board with councillor Bradley’s
proposal and he has also written to Buncrana’s new
Superintendent Paul Glynn seeking the full support
of the Gardai for the proposal.
“I am sure that other members of the council will
have received the same kind of representations that
I have in relation to incidents in the town that
have become a real nuisance for residents and
businesses and I am hopeful they will get behind the
proposal.”
Councillor Bradley said he intended to raise the
issue at last night’s budget meeting of Buncrana
Town Council and while he said there was no money in
the budget for the proposal this year, he felt it
was important to have the matter on the agenda.
“The Town Council is actively involved in the
establishment of a Joint Policing Committee in the
town and I’m hopeful that we can access funding for
a CCTV system.”
Councillor Bradley insisted that the experience of
other towns had shown the benefit of such systems.
“I am not suggesting that CCTV can take the place of
policing or even community policing, but it is an
extra tool that can help deal with problems and I
believe that the time is now right for such a system
in Buncrana,” he said. |