More than quarter of a million dollars has been committed by the Manurewa Local Board to add to CCTV coverage in the area, and to provide driver feedback signage to improve safety.
The board will spend just over $257,000 from its transport capital fund on the project, which will deliver an upgrade to closed circuit/TV video surveillance in the town centre, and add cameras at Beatty Ave, the Manurewa Library and Business Association offices, the Weymouth Road intersection, at Selwyn and Lupton roads, and at a new site covering the Clendon Business Association and Town Centre areas.
Total spending on improving CCTV is $148,523, and another $108,411 will be spent on four driver feedback signs, with Auckland Transport tasked to report back on proposed sites.
Board chair Joseph Allan says the fund allows the board to deliver transport infrastructure projects it believes are important, but which are outside Auckland Transport’s work programme.
“In recent years the board has used the fund to upgrade amenities at our train stations. And after listening to our community, we have committed funding to traffic calming measures at Roys Road and in Finlayson Ave, and on pedestrian safety measures at Dennis and David avenues.”
“Improving the network should enable people to park in a centre and feel safer about moving to the commercial and retail areas, improving the connecivity of our community,” Allan says.
As part of the Safer Cities Programme, the board and Manurewa Business Association commissioned a review of CCTV networks on and near parking facilities supporting retail and commercial areas.
“Town centre manager Neil Punja says the CCTV upgrade for Manurewa and new infrastructure for Clendon was a key safety and security outcome of the recent Manurewa Business improvement District expansion, driven by the association through the Manurewa Town Centre Local Board Steering Group.
“The new CCTV network will be better aligned with out town centre areas and provide better visibility and safety measures for business and our community,” Punja says.
Fellow board member Ken Penney says Manurewa already has some driver feedback signs in the board area.
“They are mostly used to tell people how fast they are going so that speeding drivers can slow down.
“You see them most often near high pedestrian areas such as schools and playing fields. By providing funds for more of them, we can better target areas where speeding is of concern.
“We have no shortage of those areas, because despite ongoing campaigns to have drivers slow down, especially around schools and playgrounds, resident still regularly report their concerns to us over speeding drivers and other poor behaviours in their streets.”
