CCTV cameras for notorious footpath in Chelmsford
Twelve are going to put in the Bunny Walks area which has a troublesome history
Twelve CCTV cameras are set to be installed along a Chelmsford footpath notorious for its troublesome history of sexual assualts and violence.
The Bunny Walks area, which connects Springfield and Broomfield to Chelmsford, has long been regarded as unsafe and the cameras will be set up to address safety concerns, particularly for women and girls.
Following £550,000 of government funding from the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund to improve the area and several other projects in the city, Chelmsford City Council has now revealed the locations of where it wants to install 12 CCTV cameras along the path which runs through the council-owned Chelmer Valley nature reserve.
The cameras – to transmit images 24 hours a day to the Chelmsford City Council control centre – will be located at a cost of £164,753 between close to where the path runs underneath the Chelmer Valley Road and the area close to the Riverside retail park.
The CCTV camera safety work is part of a wider set of initiatives to improve the public safety and the overall accessibility of the area including improved volunteering opportunities in the nature reserve.
A total of £40,000 is to be spent on a digital engagement project, and £15,000 will be used for youth work.
Also included are students from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) who will play a key role in helping to reduce violence towards women and girls in Chelmsford, thanks to a £20,000 partnership project with Essex Police, Essex County Council and Chelmsford City Council.
It is just one of a number of projects students from ARU are working on together with public sector organisations in Essex and Cambridgeshire as part of the Students at the Heart of Knowledge Exchange (SHoKE) scheme, developed by ARU.
Councillor Rose Moore, Chelmsford City Council cabinet member for Greener and Safer Chelmsford, said: “SHoKE is one of 16 projects which Chelmsford City Council and our partners are supporting to make the city centre and Bunny Walks safer for all, particularly women and girls.
“Arguably, education is the most important strand of the Safer Streets initiative. If we’re to achieve our ambition for a world free of harassment and abuse, we must engage with young people who may be developing unhealthy sexual attitudes and help them understand how their behavior affects others. I look forward to seeing how ARU students address this vital element through the SHoKE project.”
A statement as part of the planning application, public protection manager at Chelmsford City Council Spencer Clarke said: “Any cameras installed in the vicinity of residential premises will have digital masking to ensure that privacy is maintained.
“The funding for these cameras is via a successful bid to the Home Office Safer Streets Fund Round 3 and the full project will include other initiatives to improve the public safety and customer experience of the area such as improved volunteering opportunities in the nature reserve, the production of an interactive progressive web app and nature trail, detached youth work and improved lighting.”