A confusing message from the City Council's Traffic Management department reveals more about the proposed CCTV camera installation:

"Thank you for your letter expressing your concerns about the installation of a CCTV camera at the junction of Alfreton Road and Bobbers Mill Road.

It is intended that the camera is to be installed for traffic monitoring purposes.  The proposed camera is of the same type as that of many other traffic cameras located throughout the city at strategic junctions on the road network.  The traffic cameras are rarely used for the recording of images unless there is another use for them in their location, at the current time the Authority is enforcing both bus lanes and some parking restrictions, through the use of CCTV. 

The Camera itself is capable of rotation throughout 360 degrees, it is sited near to an important road junction where 4 roads meet – Alfreton Road, Bobbers Mill Bridge, Radford Boulevard and Gregory Boulevard – the camera will provide images from an area where the existing traffic camera network has no coverage.  We will be able to monitor traffic flow in this busy area and the Authority can then intervene with the traffic signals to maximise the flow of traffic through the junction. This will minimise the traffics impact in the neighbourhood.  In addition the camera will have a clear view of the pedestrian crossing nearby.

Any personal data collected through enforcement activities from the City’s traffic camera network is controlled by the City Council under its Data Protection policy which is published on the website."

So the "traffic cameras are rarely used for the recording of images" (in which case why bother with them) "unless there is another use for them in their location". So they are used for anything but traffic management? This is nonsense. It also begs the question of what the other uses for the cameras are. Do traffic management cameras get turned into "anti-social behaviour monitoring" cameras or "anti-terrorism" cameras when requested?

In the next paragraph the proposed camera has become an actual camera. This should give you some idea about how much impact residents concerns will have on the scheme. It seems that not only the purpose of the camera but also its location is unclear. In the original letter it was implied that the camera would monitor the junction between Bobbers Mill Road, Alfreton Road and Churchfield Street. Now it will be keeping an eye on the much bigger junction between Radford Boulevard, Alfreton Road and Gregory Boulevard.

I can't help being reminded of the infamous "Ring of Steel" that West Midlands police wanted to put around Muslim neighbourhoods in Birmingham. The proposed Nottingham camera is at a busy junction with a mosque on it at the heart of the Bobbers Mill area, which has a large Muslim population. It is also a major route in and out of Hyson Green and Forest Fields, which also have large Muslim and immigrant populations. I wonder what reassurances the City Council have for concerned locals that they won't be using this camera to monitor who is coming in and out of these areas? I wonder what kind of access to their data the police will have?

Even if this is an unfounded fear, I wonder whether the camera will have any role in directing the Council's CPOs and other busybodies? Perhaps people in the area will have their bins monitored to make sure they take them in. The Traffic Management departments statement is very unreassuring and makes it seem likely that there will be function creep.

If you are also concerned about the proliferation of CCTV cameras in the area and want proper answers from the Council, I recommend writing to the relevant department.