Northern Grampians Shire Council leaders are aware of ongoing community safety concerns in the municipality along with reports of residents calling for the organisation to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in Stawell and St Arnaud.
Mayor Karen Hyslop said council leaders were concerned about rates of crime including vandalism and theft, along with verbal reports of people feeling unsafe in their community, including at council assets such as Stawell and St Arnaud skate parks.
"Council has already responded to increased vandalism and other criminal behaviour at public toilets in Stawell and St Arnaud and takes this behaviour seriously," she said.
"The topic of CCTV has been highlighted since we closed the toilets in early May, but currently, there have not been any formal community submissions to council about CCTV. There have not been any questions from the community at council meetings or anything else that triggers a formal response process."
Cr Hyslop said although there were reports the Stawell Skate Park designer recommended CCTV be installed as part of the original project, the project working group – formed in 2022 and including community representatives – decided the project scope would not include CCTV due to financial constraints.
"CCTV camera purchase, installation and ongoing maintenance are obviously expensive and installing CCTV at hotspots shire-wide would involve allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars from the budget," she said.
"These costs formed part of the investigation into a request to install CCTV cameras in St Arnaud CBD, which included a project business case tabled at a council briefing in February 2025.
"There was a body of work completed at that time. Our position in the report was rather than putting up reactive solutions such as CCTV, we focus on crime prevention measures, which are more cost efficient. Council uses a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) strategy for development projects – including Stawell Skate Park – which focuses on reducing crime by intentionally designing and managing the built and natural environment to influence human behaviour, deter offenders and decrease visual blind spots to moderate anti-social behaviour.
"It is common knowledge council is operating in a rate-capped environment, influenced by rising inflation and cost of materials, and reduced funding opportunities from state and federal governments.
"The cost of installing and maintaining CCTV cameras would fall on ratepayers and need to be allocated in an upcoming budget.
"We have to prioritise wants and needs of the community in every budget in order to accommodate the more than 60 services we deliver."
Cr Hyslop said the 2026/27 Annual Budget would be presented at a council meeting next week.
The budget focuses on the year two priorities developed as part of the 2025-29 Council Plan process.
"The priorities were developed following extensive community feedback and installing CCTV cameras was not among them," Cr Hyslop said.
"Obviously priorities can change and be reevaluated based on community circumstances and feedback, but this does not happen by word of mouth or media reports – it comes from following documented council procedures.
"We also can't assume everyone in our community is in favour of CCTV, as there are always going to be people with privacy concerns. We also can't assume people want CCTV at the expense of another service or current service level. These concerns would also be considered in the investigation process, which comes after a formal request is made."
Cr Hyslop said several council buildings were equipped with CCTV.
"These cameras are to protect council assets that have either been targeted previously or pose security concerns. The cameras are all inward facing to protect assets and property," she said.
Cr Hyslop said she understood community safety was an emotive topic and everyone had the right to feel safe in their community.
"We take community safety seriously, whether it is animal management, installing additional lighting, emergency preparedness or enforcing local laws," she said.
"Community safety is taken into account in every project we deliver, which is why we try to deter bad behaviour in general through good design principles.
"We also believe community safety is a shared responsibility with other organisations, including Victoria Police. Criminal activity and public order offences should be reported to police."
People can report acts of vandalism of council property to council via the Snap, Send, Solve app or by calling customer service on (03) 5358 8700.
Antisocial behaviour can be reported to the Police Assistance Line on 131 444, Stawell Police Station on (03) 5358 8222, St Arnaud Police Station on (03) 5495 1000 or Halls Gap Police Station on (03) 5356 4411.
In a case of emergency, call triple zero.
