AN EMERGENCY cash injection is required to keep a CCTV network operating after it was discovered four months ago most of the cameras aren’t working.
Cameras are supposed to be used to deter and detect crime in Pontypool and Blaenavon town centres as well as in Garndiffaith and Trevethin neighbourhood centres.
But Torfaen Borough Council was told in May the cameras aren’t working properly with council deputy chief executive Dave Leech stating in a report the council had been told by the Shared Resource Services (SRS) which manages the network and other IT systems for a number of public bodies.
His report, which recommended making £16,650 available to upgrade the cameras, stated: “In May 2025, the council were notified by the SRS monitoring centre that a majority of the cameras were now defective and that the network would require significant maintenance.”
The council said it has been notified of “several” individual camera breakdowns during the past few years and along with deterioration of the cameras advances in technology have, Mr Leech said, left “parts of the network obsolete”.
The £16,650 contribution, to come from the council’s adults and communities directorate’s reserve, is expected to bring the camera network “back to full operation”.
However, Mr Leech has warned the council still has to find long-term funding for ongoing maintenance of the network which was originally paid for from the council’s housing revenue account when it was a housing provider.
When the council transferred its housing stock to housing associations, it set up a budget to fund the monitoring of the CCTV network but no funding was put aside to cover maintenance.
The cost of some repairs have previously been met with one-off contributions from Blaenavon and Pontypool community councils but neither has established an annual maintenance budget for the cameras.
Council officers now intend holding talks with Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner Jane Mudd, Gwent Police and town and community councils to see if they would be willing to make a funding contribution and to establish what “value” those organsiation consider they receive from the CCTV network.
Mr Leech’s report stated: “Discussions will take place with all beneficiaries of the CCTV network to establish a long-term funding strategy for the network.”
A report on long-term funding for the network will be prepared for consideration by Torfaen council’s Labour cabinet at a later date.
The one-off £16,650 contribution was approved by council leader Anthony Hunt in a decision published on Friday, August 29.