Museum must justify plan for park CCTV
MUSEUM BOSSES have been told to produce more evidence about why they want to install CCTV in a Yorkshire city park.
Planners and heritage experts in York have asked the York Museums Trust (YMT) to provide more information for its bid to install seven CCTV cameras around the Museum Gardens.
Earlier this year, the YMT applied for planning permission to install the cameras – including near the entrance in Museum Street, near the Hospitium, and around the Yorkshire Museum building itself.
At the time a planning document said this came in light of an increased terror threat, and a museum spokesman said it had followed advice from law enforcement agencies and would “offer further protection to the public and to our historic buildings and monuments from any anti-social behaviour in the area”.
Now planning documents show one of the council’s own planning officers asking for written justification on why the cameras are needed, what they are protecting and why the proposed locations have been chosen.
In a letter to the museums’ facilities manager, the planner wrote: “I need to understand what exactly the public benefits of the proposals are, what the security risks are and thus the need for the CCTV cameras.”
That has been echoed by heritage experts at York Civic Trust, who have made their own written submission asking for more detail.
The trust’s chief executive Dr David Fraser said while they would “ordinarily be inclined to support York Museums Trust in its protection and upkeep of the Museums Gardens”, his organisation cannot support the plan in its current “incomplete” form.
A spokesman for the YMT said that since receiving new guidance from the city council, it has submitted a more detailed document for planners to consider.