Green light for £700k CCTV control room

The new control room is due to be completed by March 2026

A council is to spend £700,000 on a new "state-of-the-art" CCTV control room in an effort to cut crime and anti-social behaviour.

Cabinet members at Newark and Sherwood District Council approved plans to build the new facility by March 2026 on Tuesday.

The centre is currently based at Nottinghamshire Police's Sherwood Lodge headquarters, but the partnership arrangement only has two years left on the agreement.

The council also has a number of independent, stand-alone CCTV systems across the borough, including at its Castle House offices, the Buttermarket, and Vicar Water Country Park.

The plans were approved at a council meeting on Tuesday

Council documents show the new control room will cost £700,000, with integration of internal CCTV systems into the new control room costing another £40,000.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the authority was intending to use £350,000 from the Government's Towns Fund to pay for the project, but as the release of funding has been delayed to April 2026 it had decided to pay for the project itself.

Paul Taylor, portfolio holder for public protection and community relations, said residents' surveys had shown one of the top priorities was tackling anti-social behaviour and crime.

"This is about people's safety," he said.

"What tends to happen at the moment is if someone is getting beaten up, the police will be able to go and have a look at what happened afterwards.

"Bringing this new system in, which will mean we will have state-of-the-art, the best system in the county, will mean that control room staff will know the area.

"It will mean that it will be monitored live, and will even be in a position – with AI – to spot behaviour that is likely to lead to offending and flash up for control room staff."