Big Brother Comes To Barton!

Now don't get too excited. This is George Orwell's Big Brother, not Channel Four's!

A few years ago my company produced large print and braille versions of the Optional SATS papers for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). One year the English source book was based on "1984" (Big Brother) and contemporary CCTV experiences in Scotland. The survey findings in Scotland were that in real situations CCTV is regarded as a helpful thing and not invasive. The public's perception of the use of CCTV was very positive.
I really hope that the same will soon be said in Barton. At a recent Chamber of Trade and Industry meeting we learned that CCTV cameras were to be installed to help reduce the vandalism and general anti-social behaviour that we have seen rising lately. The Chamber meeting was so convinced of the usefulness of these systems that it agreed to fund extended provision to help complete the coverage. This will not only provide support for traders in their businesses, which is our primary cause, but also general street cover, which should help the overall situation.

As Chair of Chamber I certainly welcome this initiative and hope that by working with and supporting the other official bodies we can aim to regain the "nice place to live" environment that people reported used to be the case in our earlier survey.

Paul Thornton
Chair – Barton Chamber of Trade and Industry
Director – Visually Impaired Media Access Consultants