The cost of monitoring a CCTV system in Queenstown was the only barrier to its establishment, Queenstown Lakes District Council Mayor Clive Geddes told retailers and business owners last week.
About 20 people met at the council offices on Thursday to review the Queenstown Town Centre Strategy, adopted by the council in December.
Queenstown Chamber of Commerce president Alastair Porter asked QLDC policy planner Ralph Henderson what the Queenstown Town Centre Strategy view was on CCTV.
Mr Henderson said the council "didn't have the support for CCTV from the working party".
"It was raised by some people through the survey . . . [but] a lot of respondents are saying the Queenstown town centre is actually safe."
Mr Geddes said the capital cost of establishing CCTV was between $250,000 and $275,000, but the real cost was in monitoring that system.
"CCTV is of the greatest value when it's monitored.
The question becomes who monitors the system and who pays for that monitoring? How long are we going to monitor it for, who's going to do that job, and what are we going to do with that information?"A previous surveillance system failed when the police were no longer allowed to monitor the cameras.
However, cables from that system were still in the ground and could be used for a future system, he said.
"The council has no prejudice against the system. The concern is about the capital cost and, more importantly, the ongoing cost of monitoring."
The council had established the "town custodians" at a cost of $43,000.
Mr Porter asked whether one of those custodians couldmonitor a CCTV system.
"If one can afford to pay for the custodians . . . then we only need one of them to sit on their butt looking at the camera for a night."
Mr Geddes invited Mr Porter and members of the Chamber to meet before the annual plan submission period to discuss the issue further.
