City of Melville Residents to Receive Rebate for Installing CCTV Cameras

A plan to improve community safety in the City of Melville has been approved after a lengthy debate, with residents who install CCTV cameras set to receive a rebate.

Background of the Plan

The $2.6 million safety plan aims to improve community safety by allowing private homes and small businesses to link their cameras to a city-managed network. This network will alert the nearest community safety patrol car in real-time of people loitering at night or in the early hours of the morning.

Property owners who install an eligible CCTV system and take part in the pilot program will receive a $500 rebate, while those who don’t take part in the pilot will receive $200. The city’s mobile CCTV fleet will be expanded by about 10 units, and fixed CCTV will be rolled out across about 20 public locations.

Debate and Voting

The plan was debated for 2.5 hours, with councillors initially voting 7-6 to put off a decision until May. However, an hour later, the council voted 7-5 in favour of a rescission motion from Cr Nicole Robins, who wanted a decision made that night.

Cr Robins said, ‘I think the community would rather us make a decision tonight rather than just put it off because there was maybe some confusion and because it had taken a while to get there.’ The votes on the rebates and capping the city’s spending on the program at $1.06m were both tied 6-6 until Ms Mair again used her second casting votes in favour of them.

Alternative Recommendations

Before the meeting started, alternative recommendations were lodged by Crs Scott Green, Glynis Barber, and Jennifer Spanbroek. The council voted 8-4 in favour of an amendment from Cr Robins to cap the city’s spending at $1.06m, inclusive of a $700,000 Commonwealth grant, and for a new camera location.

Deputy mayor Matthew Woodall then wanted to amend the city’s spending limit solely to the Commonwealth grant, but Cr Robins asked why it was being considered when her amendment had to be lodged the previous morning. After a five-minute adjournment, Ms Mair said Cr Woodall’s proposal could not be accepted.

Community Safety Concerns

Cr Robins said she did not want to delay community safety if the city did not get any funding. ‘The community has been very clear… that safety is a great priority for them. In both 2023 and 2025, safety and crime prevention ranked in the top three areas that residents want the city to improve,’ she said.

Four years ago, 92 per cent of residents agreed they felt safe in Melville, and by last year that had dropped to 67 per cent. Cr Robins said, ‘I think that these statistics are a clear message from our community that they want us to do more and they expect leadership on safety.’

Concerns Over Equity and Effectiveness

Cr Barber said she believed the rebate was not justified as it was not a service the city should invest in and it would not be available to enough people. ‘One-hundred-and-twenty-five out of 44,000 houses can get the rebate. Well, I’m a person who believes in fairness and who believes in equity, and I don’t think this is a very equitable program,’ she said.

Former councillor Tomas Fitzgerald also raised concerns about the effectiveness of fixed CCTV in reducing crime. ‘Whether that’s drug dealing in a park, whether it’s kids carrying on, whether it’s vandalism, there is just next to no evidence that fixed CCTV is an effective way of addressing those crimes,’ he said.

For more information on community safety and CCTV cameras, visit our website. You can also learn about investing in safety and crime prevention strategies.