Public Space CCTV

The community-led team have worked tirelessly to overcome the challenges presented in installing and operating a public space CCTV system, this determination has now paid off with another valuable first for Newcastleton. The introduction of community space CCTV for the village will provide security, reassurance, and peace of mind to many residents and businesses.

The primary aim of CCTV within the community is to deter criminality but at the same time to reassure the community and businesses. The facility will also enhance the ability of the police to investigate and detect crime after any offence has been committed.

Divisional Commander for Lothian and Scottish Borders, Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton from Police Scotland said:

“CCTV cameras are valued by communities; they are useful as we are not able to have Police officers on every street corner. They give people reassurance, and they are also a huge operational benefit for the Police. It is really important that people safe and the cameras in Newcastleton will help to enhance community wellbeing.”

Chair of Newcastleton Community Council, Greg Cuthbert said:

“After 2 years of collaboration, it is wonderful to see our efforts finally coming to fruition, with a new CCTV system for the village being officially switched on today.

But this project has been a real team effort and I would like to thank our Community Council Members as well as Elected Members from the Teviot & Liddesdale catchment who all supported this application.

And of course, Police Scotland for providing the invaluable support which helped us to prepare the statutory paperwork required to operate a public space system and to ensure that we meet the relevant GDPR and human rights legislation that governs its usage.

For Newcastleton, this is another superb example of a collaborative project which has been achieved by the community through increased community ownership, responsibility, and accountability. Indeed, there is now a great deal of interest in how other communities can learn from our endeavours”.

The second phase of this project will also offer additional and vital environmental benefits for the village and surrounding area. Work to extend the core coverage is now underway, with the riverside being ‘plugged in’ to the system. This will see the installation of new riverside CCTV which will capture and monitor river behaviours and provide helpful insight into flood defence work. This work is ongoing, given the two serious flood events which impacted the community so badly in both 2020 and 2021.