National Community Crime Prevention Program funding to the tune of $150,000 was granted to Shoalhaven City Council earlier this year.

The process involved informing the community of the funding and conducting a survey to gauge its awareness of the issue.

Those processes have been completed and the results of the survey are currently being prepared.

Heading up the project is council’s coordinator for community development Allan Blackshaw.

Mr Blackshaw said there was a lot more involved than just applying for 16 to 18 CCTV cameras and putting them up in the CBD.

“After the survey results are made public, we will seek quotes for the installation of the cameras.

“Another thing we needed to do was a safety audit of the area as it stands as there is possibly some things that may need to change before the cameras go in.”

Mr Blackshaw said council had funding to examine issues such as lighting and creating areas of passive surveillance where there were people around and visible to the public.

“If there are changes to be made before we install the cameras we need to make those changes.

“It’s not just a matter of installing a few cameras.

“It’s a matter of assessing what are the worst areas and what people’s perceptions are.”

Mr Blackshaw said that once the cameras were installed council staff would monitor them and the results for a few months and then conduct another survey.

He said the cameras are only really one strategy to reduce crime in the CBD.