Closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) could be installed in Katoomba within three months in a desperate bid by the local business community to counter rising street crime.
More than 40 people attended a tense Katoomba Chamber of Commerce and Community (KCCC) meeting at the Carrington Hotel last Thursday, where a unanimous decision was made to "act alone" rather than wait for council to take its finger off the pause button on the issue.
There was clear agreement that something had to be done urgently in Katoomba to deter and police acts of thuggery and vandalism, which the chamber estimates causes more than $140,000 of damage per year.
The full KCCC resolution reads "as council has been unable to respond in a meaningful way after a period of 18 months to matters of security in Katoomba, KCCC resolves to proceed directly with the implementation of a CCTV system for Katoomba and Main Streets."
KCCC will provide details at its next meeting on May 10 of three quotes to install up to a dozen cameras and has suggested July 1 as a preferred date to get a chosen CCTV system operational.
KCCC members would voluntarily contribute a regular payment, roughly estimated to be $300 per business per year, to fund the system.
Chamber president Robert Stock said the move was a forced one, because despite approaches to council as far back as 2000, a petition signed by more than 1000 people in May 2006 and an offer to split the cost of CCTV on a 50/50 basis, council has "failed to do anything at any reasonable rate of progress."
Of council's resolution last month to report back in July on progress in determining whether there is a need or not for CCTV in Katoomba and how effective such a system would be, Mr Stock said "I doubt they (council) have done anything (on that) yet."
New council general manager Phil Pinyon attended the meeting and said progress is being made, but he didn't have any more information at hand.
"They keep saying they are looking into it, but it would be more helpful to us if they just said yes or no," Mr Stock said.
"While I'm still hopeful this (KCCC resolution) might prompt a response from council, we are circumventing them because we need to get something up and running now, not in another five years time.
"This council has only installed CCTV in the foyer of its chambers. Oberon council recently installed more than a dozen CCTV cameras in its town's main street."
Long-time Katoomba businessman Peter Poulos was even more direct in his criticism of council's approach to addressing crime.
"For a council that couldn't give a stuff about the business community - if they don't know this (crime) is the problem (in Katoomba), if they don't care, we should do it (install CCTV) ourselves," Mr Poulos said.
KCCC vice president Jane Canfield said Katoomba has lost a lot of businesses from vandalism.
"Business is hard already and shops can't get insured anymore for broken windows," she said.
"Some people have brought up privacy issues with CCTV, but it will only be when something happens that footage will be looked at by police (in order to identify offenders)."
Paragon Restaurant proprietor Barbara Allot, who lives in Katoomba Street, said she lives in fear every night.
"There is violence every night, young kids being chased up the street, garbage bins being thrown, girls being abused," Ms Allott said.
"People (tourists) have said they are never coming here again.
"There is a problem, so let's do something about it."
Other suggestions were to organise more activities and events in the centre of town and even to play classical music on the streets at night.
Blue Mountains crime manager Jason Puxty did not attend Thursday's meeting, but Mr Stock said police have expressed enthusiasm to him about CCTV in Katoomba.
"They identified Katoomba as the most strategic and high priority area in the Blue Mountains for CCTV," Mr Stock said.
Email a friend