Councillors have taken staff to task over the standards of CCTV cameras in the Waipā district.
But the system is a “work in progress” and the council is on the right track, Transportation Manager Bryan Hudson told last week’s Service Delivery Committee meeting.
Questions were raised by Roger Gordon, who suggested the district was being monitored by cameras which were not fit for purpose.
At issue was that only a small number of PTZ – pan, tilt and zoom – cameras were in use. Other cameras do not have the same capability to pick up specific details such as number plates.
Those cameras were up high, surveying an entire intersection, and when pictures were enlarged, they pixilated.
Mr Hudson said there was a conscious decision to have some PTZ and some fixed cameras and at tender time it was evident the budget would extend to 13 cameras, not the originally planned for 19.
“So, there were some decisions made around which cameras could be installed and which would have to wait for another day.”
Two PTZ cameras were in use in Te Awamutu and one in Cambridge.
Cr Gordon said the council set minimum expectations and one was identifying vehicle plates and persons, “and what I’m hearing is that functionality was not achieved.”
Mr Hudson said there was a lot of misunderstanding around the requirements. It had been decided to get some PTZ cameras, but the council did not get everything it wanted.
He acknowledged there had been compromise.
