Kiama councillors voted for work on Wi-Fi and CCTV plans to be considered in the next budget. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
Plans and policy for Wi-Fi and CCTV within the Kiama LGA could be included in the next budget, with councillors hoping to have the groundwork in place for the important infrastructure for when funding opportunities arise.
The extension and installation of more CCTV and public Wi-Fi services in Kiama could be explored with more concrete plans and updated policies hoped to be developed with funding allocated in the council’s 2026-27 budget.
Councillor Stuart Larkins put forward a motion for council to consider allocating future funds to establish a Kiama Council Public Wi-Fi Plan and an updated Council Operated Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Policy through partnering with NBN and telecommunication providers to explore cost-effective ways of extending the services.
The work in these documents would also put council in a better position to push for funding and apply for grants.
“I think it’s important that we enable our council to do the necessary groundwork as part of these particular items, particularly around the CCTV infrastructure which is part of our advocacy document for improvements,” Cr Larkins said.
“We just need to make sure that we’ve done everything that we need to so that we can successfully advocate to the levels of government in relation to these particular issues.”
There was some rollout of public Wi-Fi by council a decade ago with coverage along Terralong and Manning streets and public libraries but there has not yet been a standalone plan for increasing it, or to explore rolling out to other township areas such as Gerringong and Jamberoo.
Financial costs have been a barrier to its extension.
Kiama’s CCTV network has previously suffered some damage from storms, but installation, planning and design of a new system is not currently budgeted for as it was outside council’s capacity for this financial year.
Ongoing maintenance and upkeep would also require budgeting each year.
“The other aspect particularly around CCTV policy is also ensuring that we can manage community requests for where these items get placed as well as protecting the privacy of people,” Cr Larkins said.
Although the motion was carried for the plans to be taken into consideration, the current environment and resources at council are set to create a difficult task in deciding what is included in the next budget, with items to be assessed based on importance and cost, risk management, core services and overall benefit for the community and council.
