Hume councillors voted on whether or not council should submit an application for a federal government grant for funding that was already promised to the community.
Council was awarded $750,000 as part of the Strengthening Community Safety – Election Commitment Funding from Hawke MP Sam Rae and McEwen MP Rob Mitchell, who each made an election promise to install CCTV in Sunbury and Kalkallo.
The funding would run until 2028, with funded initiatives needing to contribute to the objective of the program to strengthen community safety.
This is a non-competitive funding program with unsolicited grant funding awarded to council, but in order to access it, councillors needed to decide whether or not to submit an application.
The decision was made at the 27 October council meeting, with the application deadline 5pm the following day.
Cr Ally Watson moved the recommendation that council apply for the funding.
“I’m really looking forward to hopefully getting colleagues’ support on this particular item,” she said.
Cr Watson said this funding is a way in which council can make the community feel heard, especially for those in Sunbury and Kalkallo.
“Its about knowing that our public places, our parks and our local shops have some security measures around them to help people feel more confident about going about their daily lives,” she said.
“It’s not just about recording things, it’s about protecting.”
Cr Jim Overend seconded the motion, but said this CCTV cameras won’t fix the broader issue.
“I’d still like to note that this will not deter any crime from happening because this can be clearly seen at the moment with what’s going on around us, especially in Hume with the violence that’s taking place with machetes, fighting and stabbings,” he said.
“They do that in broad daylight. They do that in shopping centres. They do that under camera. They’re not afraid.
“They keep themselves covered and they’ll get out there and they will hurt our residents.
“Anything that can help make our residents feel a little bit safer, I’m all for it. I just can’t see how this will stop any crimes.”
Councillors voted unanimously to apply for the funding, after spending six minutes discussing it.
Council officers noted in the four-page report in the agenda that if they didn’t apply to this funding, there would be reputational damage to council, as the funding was already promised by both federal members, but the works were something council had no intentions to undertake at this time.
