Cameras could be installed in three Carmarthenshire parks by the community council which runs them.
Gorslas Community Council said it was proceeding with CCTV installation at Gorslas Park and was awaiting planning consent for CCTV coverage at Drefach Park and Cefneithin Park.
It has invested £102,000 in new children’s play equipment at Gorslas and Cefneithin, and said it considered CCTV as the most effective and practical means of ensuring people could use and feel safe in its parks.
Chairman, Cllr Andy King, said: “The council is thrilled with the investment in new play equipment at Gorslas and Cefneithin which will be supported by CCTV coverage.
“Seeing the delight on children’s faces as they play on the new equipment has made it all worthwhile. A big thank you to everyone involved.”
The community council is to manage the CCTV system, in collaboration with Dyfed-Powys Police when required.
It said notices were placed on public notice boards adjacent to each park advising of the council’s intentions and seeking views, and that to date none had been received.
If all went to plan, the £16,000 cost of the CCTV roll-out would come from the community council’s budget.
Dyfed-Powys Police has responded to the two new CCTV planning applications to ask for crime pattern analysis to justify the installations, and whether they met the required regulations. But it hasn’t objected.
Meanwhile, the community council secured £94,000 of the £102,000 play investment via planning agreements between developers and Carmarthenshire Council. The money could only be spent at Gorslas and Cefneithin. Gorslas Welfare Association donated £6,000.
The community council said it consulted schoolchildren locally about the play equipment plans, and asked for the wider public’s views via Facebook.
