Albury council is considering CCTV at the Glenmorus Memorial Gardens cemetery, after the public and fellow councillors called for action to deter ‘disrespectful’ burnouts.
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On Wednesday Albury mayor Kevin Mack said as only three isolated incidents had occurred in 30 years there were no immediate plans to install cameras.
But 24 hours later the mayor said they would investigate the possibility of cameras to identify offending vehicles in the future.
Cr Mack said there had been no cost to ratepayers as the marks fade overtime.
He said the perpetrator had shown an appalling lack of respect and council would be investigating the feasibility of camera options.
“Although there are no immediate plans for installing cameras, we are investigating that possibility which may help to identify offending vehicles in the future,” he said.
Councillor Henk van de Ven said council and the community could not stand by and put up with the hoon behaviour.
“We can’t tolerate having this sort of damage caused on a regular basis,” he said.
“We need to try identify who is doing this, and if we put temporary CCTV out there that’d be the best option and what we should be doing.”
Councillor Darren Cameron said CCTV should not only be employed at the cemetery but at roundabouts throughout Lavington and North Albury so they can identify people repeatedly doing burnouts.
“Hoon behaviour is a real problem in North Albury and Lavington in particular,” he said.
Cr Graham Docksey said the reality was police could not spend all day and night at the cemetery and council needs to consider its options.
“We need to be open-minded, I’m not going against what Kevin said yesterday, but I don’t think we should rule out cameras,” he said.
“We should look at if it is feasible, the cost might well be too prohibitive but it’s worth looking at.”
Councillor John Stuchberry said he supported the idea and was confident there would be a way to position a camera to catch those acting in an ‘idiotic and unsafe’ way without infringing on mourners’ privacy.
“Three strikes and you’re out, if it was a one-off I wouldn’t want to waste ratepayers money but it’s becoming an established pattern,” he said.