FOURTEEN new CCTV cameras are to be installed at a community centre to ensure it remains a relatively crime-free zone.

St Martins Parish Council has agreed to give the trustees of the village’s community centre £6,125 to allow the work to begin later this month.

While the grant was agreed by a large majority, some councillors felt the trustees should approach other organisations to try to receive cash aid – and also queried why 14 cameras were needed.

Councillor John Stevens said the grant made sense as the council had received a £9,000 windfall from the developers of eight new homes in Orchard Close.

The parish authority had opposed the project but had been over-ruled – and he said there was a nice irony in the windfall money in the form of a CIL payment being used to make the area safer. 

A CIL payment – a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – is paid by developers to county councils when work begins on new projects.

PCSO Pete Roberts had already told the meeting St Martins was one of the safest communities in the Oswestry area. There had been just one burglary in the previous month and the four assaults in the village were all domestic incidents – there was no on-street violence.

Councillors said that as the centre was used by all members of the community, it was right and proper the parish council paid for the CCTV project.

A bus shelter close by had been demolished by a vehicle a few days before, but the CCTV cameras were not working so did not film the incident. Police are still investigating and members heard the new cameras would have captured the damage, which would have helped the police catch those responsible.

The new cameras will cover all round the centre, including the main road and the nearby sports pitch.