Security Cameras
Over the last year there have been a variety of incidents for which the monitoring of traffic into and out of the village would have been useful.
While it is open to any individual to place surveillance cameras on their property, the Parish Council would be interested to know whether the community as a whole would welcome the increased security provided by such devices at strategic points or whether the use of this technology would be perceived as intrusive.
We would welcome your opinion on this matter. Please contact Councillor Hazel Jones if you wish to comment.
Osmonda Cottage,
The Village,
North Bovey
hazelajones@gmail.com
01647 440143
3 Comments
Mandy Hart
Awful idea. I’d find it completely intolerable.
Gary Day-Ellison
I think it is a good idea that we are thinking of ways to help ourselves on Dartmoor especially given the distance the Police have to travel to assist us. However I do not think surveillance cameras are the solution. As I understand it the suggestion is to place a camera at each of the three main approaches to the village. And there is the rub. It would only protect the inner village leaving everyone outside its coverage not only left out but even more vulnerable. This would have a displacement effect urging the Badhats to target the more vulnerable properties.
We needs lots more opinions on this matter. Who would monitor everyone’s comings and going? I shudder at that prospect. So we record a shadowy form (who will see the camera)? Record vehicles? Many issues raised here of privacy, intrusion, realistic prevention.
More views please? Have your say!
Christian Hunt
With reference to the idea of CCTV in the village:
I can’t imagine for one moment why we would need to have our every move watched over by security cameras? The very presence of cameras necessitates administration and control by someone or a group of some ones. It also entails signage to the effect that they exist and we already have an ever increasing plethora of signage as it is. There are also many legal hoops to go through to get the relevant permissions, controls and administration set up. I believe applications are fraught with issues over planning, privacy and data protection along with staff training up to GNVQ standards. Furthermore, as the village is a conservation area and in the National Park, so there would be other planning issues to contend with too. Fortunately for us all, no one can arbitrarily decide to spy on the free movement and expression of individuals without producing an overwhelming case to the relevant authorities.
In respect to the latter, as far as I’m aware, car crime and burglaries in the village are events that rate in incidence and effect alongside ice ages, visits from the local constable and ball lightening! Are we uninformed? Has there been a dramatic increase in village crime of which we are totally unaware? Are there gangs of ne’er-do-wells in stripy jumpers, black eye masks, carrying bags of swag regularly seen darting amongst the village oaks? I think perhaps not. Also, those like myself, who live outside the confines of the village, would receive no direct benefit from it’s presence at all!
My view is that almost everyone who grew up here and those that have made their homes here have come for the peace and tranquillity of village and rural life. I would contend that they came here in large measure precisely for the lack of street lights, double yellow lines, street brawls, property crime, CCTV, speed bumps, blaring sirens, and up until quite recently, relatively few road furniture items of the signage variety. All those that come into communities like North Bovey, benefit greatly from an environment that is not blighted by all the above and the concomitant administration that it entails. It is, I would contend, a rather special and unique environment and one that should be celebrated and enjoyed, most especially for its lack of some of the contemporary features of inner city life. These are things I believe most people hoped that they might have left behind. In my personal view the insidious incursions of elements of town and city into the heart of the community are not encouraging signs for the future.
Rural and village life in my experience has always been one where individuals can lead their own lives in peace, in large measure allowing others to do the same. This can mean of course, that on occasion one has to resist the impetus to impose on others. The upside of this is that they (The others) should really play by the same rules and resist the temptation to impose on oneself, a healthy situation usually facilitated by compromise. I’m aware that this does not always work, but that as they say, is life! It is also one, where one helps a neighbour in their hour of need and one where we come together to support the whole community when occasion dictates. A certain lack of institutionalisation and control in this loose geographical and physical association of parish and village, should I believe, be encouraged and nurtured. Perhaps it is well to remember George Orwell when we look at the little part of the world we inhabit, my view is we are certainly not, or should not, emulate the Outer Party, or for that matter the Inner Party either.
I realise we have had a recent burglary event at the Ring of Bells. This would appear on the face of it, to be an incidence where detailed local or insider knowledge enabled access and the execution of a crime. Richard, as owner of the pub is well within his rights to make whatever arrangements he sees fit to mitigate any further events of this type occurring. In this instance, I am aware he has a resolution to this problem well in hand.
As and when the crime rate in the private houses and confines of the village reaches a point of incidence that registers at all, on any measurable scale, perhaps the camera idea should be mothballed and we can simply carry on looking out for our neighbours, just as we do now. At the same time, we can all make our own arrangements within the law and as and when we see fit, if we feel that it’s in our own interests as individuals to do so.
On another though related matter, the somewhat flexible nature of the relative geographical location of new signage has also been noted. This may be due to the unstable nature of the local soil structure, minute movements in the earths mantle, or perhaps some other invisible force as yet undiscovered. Has anyone else noticed this incongruity? I mention this purely as a concerned citizen and have recently made the owners of adjacent properties aware of the situation. It may have a bearing on their insurances for subsidence. I am expecting a visit from the Ordinance Survey to ascertain that our GPS coordinates have not altered, deliveries being compromised by unreliable mapping a priority here I feel. Also and perhaps pertinent, I am led to believe that moving road signs without proper authorisation and a permit is an offence under the road traffic act and therefore quite possibly a criminal offence!
Regards,
Christian M Hunt