State Member for Maitland, Jenny Aitchison is demanding that the Berejiklian Barilaro Government expand the eligibility of the Community and Small Business CCTV Fund to include the Maitland electorate.
Ms Aitchison delivered a Notice of Motion in the NSW Parliament recently calling on the Liberals and Nationals Government to expand the criteria to include small businesses and community groups across rural and regional NSW.
In February 2019 the Premier announced a $5 million CCTV Fund that would be available for local small businesses in 10 Local Government Areas across Western and South West Sydney.
Recent questions to the Government from Ms Aitchison revealed that as at 17 February 2020 only $254,270 (just 5%) had been granted from the allocated $5 million.
“There has clearly been a massive underspend with this program over the past 16 months. There is still $4,745,730 in the fund unallocated,” Ms Aitchison said.
“Our local small businesses and community organisations are crying out for assistance to help address some of the crime hotspots in the electorate.
“The message from this Sydney-centric Liberals and Nationals Government is very clear. They are ignoring rural and regional communities.
“People in places like Maitland experience crime too and we deserve to have access to the same bucket of money.
“One of the Premier’s own priorities outlines the Government’s commitment to preventing and reducing the level of crime to support the growth of safer communities.
“We know that where CCTV is used, crime rates go down. The Premier needs to explain why she’s only interested in deterring criminal behaviour and preventing crime in Sydney.”
