When a local parent shared their experience at Hindmarsh Park on our Community Facebook page, it inspired me to take a closer look at Kiama Council’s CCTV policy and what it says about how public spaces are meant to be protected.
The parent had gone there to celebrate their daughter’s fifth birthday, only to find both public barbecues in a shocking state. One was coated in melted plastic. The other gave off a strong smell of sewage when turned on. They ended up abandoning the facilities and using a portable BBQ from home.
Their post asked the obvious question:
“Are Council doing daily inspections of these facilities or leaving a multimillion-dollar new park to deteriorate?”
It’s a fair question, especially when Council’s policies promise proactive monitoring and deterrence through CCTV.
Kiama Council’s CCTV Policy outlines a clear set of objectives: to promote community safety and crime prevention, protect residents, visitors, and Council assets, deter vandalism and antisocial behaviour, and provide footage to NSW Police when required.
The accompanying Street Surveillance Code of Practice commits to annual audits, clear signage, and transparency about where and how cameras operate. These are good principles on paper, but they depend entirely on follow-through.
❓If CCTV is installed near Hindmarsh Park or the surrounding main street, was it operating when the vandalism occurred?
❓Has Council reviewed any footage?
❓Are inspections of new facilities being carried out daily, as they should be?
❓If the cameras weren’t working, or if the footage wasn’t checked, it raises deeper questions about accountability and maintenance, not only of the park but of the systems meant to protect it.
Hindmarsh Park is one of Kiama’s newest public investments, designed as a safe, family-friendly space. Incidents like this undermine public confidence and point to a gap between what Council says it does and what residents experience on the ground.
It’s time for Council to confirm whether the CCTV systems are operational, whether inspections are happening as promised, and how it plans to prevent future incidents. Policies don’t protect public spaces; people and accountability do.
#KiamaCouncil #HindmarshPark #CommunitySafety #CCTV #PublicAccountability #CloverHillDiaries
