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Centennial Park CCTV Consultation

Sustainable Parklands Project

Project Name: Centennial Park CCTV Proposal
Location: Centennial Park Moore Park
Project Timing: To be confirmed

Project description

Centennial Parklands is one of Sydney’s most popular open public spaces. An estimated 25 million people visit the Parklands annually to access its many attractions and facilities. To enhance the safety of Parklands visitors, its assets and deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, planning is underway to install a range of CCTV cameras, starting with Centennial Park with two camera poles, containing three cameras each.

The poles are proposed to be located near the Education Precinct and The Ian Potter Children’s WILD PLAY Garden. This area is bounded by Loch Avenue, Grand Drive and Dickens Drive.

The cameras will be in use 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the positioning of the cameras will not affect any external areas to Centennial Park. Images from all cameras will be recorded and retained for a period of time to allow for authorised persons to review the footage to identify an incident as part of an investigation.

Why do the Parklands need CCTV?

Centennial Parklands Rangers are responsible for patrolling its three parks: Centennial Park, Queens Park and Moore Park. However, as they cover the entire 360 hectares of the Parklands they may not always be available to attend to an incident in a timely manner due to being engaged with incidents at other locations.

The introduction of CCTV will provide an additional tool for Parklands Management to report and/or assist the NSW Police with information on any critical incidents that may occur within the Park.

Privacy and data protection to comply with Government Policy

The decision to install CCTV was made in compliance with the NSW Government Policy Statement and Guidelines for the Establishment and Implementation of CCTV in Public Places. The guidelines consider relevant privacy and data collection laws, including the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

In compliance with these guidelines, community consultation will take place prior to the introduction of the CCTV, and Standard Operating Procedures and other supporting protocols will also be prepared for approval by Parklands Management.

Public consultation

Public consultation for this project ran from Monday 22 May for a three week period and closed on 12 June 2017.

Consultation with the NSW Police, key business units, relevant stakeholders and the Centennial Parklands Community Consultative Committee was undertaken prior to the public consultation period, and their feedback will be incorporated into the project planning.

Timing

The timing of installation is currently being considered, and further information will be provided via this page once installed.

How will CCTV cameras impact visitors?

The cameras will not impact visitors to the Park and they will be advised by onsite signage that they may be recorded. Signs will be erected at and near the proposed locations, in a position where the public will be clearly advised of the presence of CCTV and that they may be recorded. The signs will be in compliance with legal requirements of the installation of CCTV.

Footage taken will also record staff as they perform their duties however cameras will not be monitored on a day-to-day basis, nor will they be used to ‘spy’ on staff. The footage may be used in official investigations by the NSW Police or Centennial Parklands.

Access to the CCTV recordings will be restricted and all viewing of the footage will be documented and subject to regular audits.

Police and other authorised legal persons will only have access to the footage for the purpose of conducting investigations. It is proposed the footage will be kept for approximately three months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Centennial Parklands is one of Sydney’s most visited open public spaces with an estimated 25 million visitors annually.

During core business hours the Parklands has two Security Rangers on duty across the entire Parklands (360 hectares) and three on weekends (during daylight hours). Due to the nature of Parklands visitation Rangers cannot always be available to monitor or attend to incidences in a timely manner. An introduction of CCTV will provide an additional tool for Parklands Management to report and/or assist the NSW Police with information on any critical incidences that may occur within the Park. Currently we are unable to do this.

After consulting with Managers and Supervisors, we have identified a number of locations where the installation of CCTV will increase public safety, protect our assets and benefit Parklands staff in their work.

The Parklands is initially proposing to install two camera poles, six cameras in total. Further cameras may be installed in future, as needed.
The initial locations which have been identified are near the Park’s Education Precinct and The Ian Potter Children’s WILD PLAY Garden.
These cameras will identify any potential criminal activity that may occur within the area, breaches of Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust Regulations, and any safety related issues that may arise in the area.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will be written for the use of the CCTV cameras and their recordings. These SOPS will be submitted for approval by Botanic Garden & Centennial Parklands Executive. The SOPs will be written in line with the NSW Government Policy Statement and Guidelines for the Establishment and Implementation of CCTV in Public Places.
The cameras are proposed to be in use 24 hours per day when they are installed.
The images from all cameras will be recorded on a hard disk drive and kept for a period of time to allow for authorised persons to review the footage to try and identify an incident as part of an investigation.
The length of time the footage will be kept has not yet been determined, but will be about three months.
No, the cameras will not be monitored on a day-to-day basis.
No. The cameras will not be used to spy on staff. They are however, in the open public space in which some staff will frequent as part of their duties. This in turn will no doubt pick up staff as they are going about their duties and the images will be recorded along with everything else they detect.
Access to the CCTV recordings will be restricted. Any viewing of the footage will be documented and subject to regular audits. Police or other authorised legal persons will have access to the footage for the purpose of conducting their investigations.
There will be signs erected which is a legal requirement of installation of CCTV. The signs will be placed in a position where the public will be alerted that they may be recorded from the cameras.
The positioning of the cameras will not affect any persons external to Centennial Park. Visitors to the area, including general park users, education and sporting groups, tours etc may be recorded. However will notified through on site signage.
The footage may be used in official investigations by the NSW Police or Centennial Parklands depending on whether the incident is criminal or not.
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