Neil Bibby MSP has repeated his calls for Renfrewshire Council to install CCTV in public parks as a matter of urgency after a young woman was raped in Brodie Park, Paisley.
In the summer of 2024, Mr Bibby asked Renfrewshire Council to install CCTV in Barshaw Park Paisley, in response to safety concerns from local residents. But the Council said this was ‘not a priority’.
In Spring this year, public distress was caused by reports that unidentified men had filmed children in the park. Police made a plea for private CCTV footage because no public CCTV was available.
Following this, more than 1,000 residents signed a petition backing calls for CCTV at Barshaw Park. Mr Bibby also formally wrote to the Renfrewshire Council Leader and a Senior Council official calling again for CCTV to be installed there and raising the views of constituents that CCTV should be installed at all local public parks.
Renfrewshire Council said they would review provision but extending CCTV to parks was still ‘not a priority’ for the Council.
In Glasgow many parks have CCTV as a crime prevention measure and to reassure the public. There is CCTV in Robertson Park in Renfrew but none in the major parks of Paisley.
After this latest incident of a rape in Brodie Park, the Police have once again had to make an appeal for private CCTV to try to identify and apprehend the rapist because there is no public CCTV operational at the park.
Mr Bibby is now demanding a meeting with the Leader and Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council to demand action and answers on the lack of progress in addressing this issue.
Repeating his calls for CCTV to be installed in local parks, Neil Bibby MSP said: “The rape of a young woman in Brodie Park was horrific and appalling. My heart goes out to the her and I would urge anyone with any information to contact the Police.
The wrongs to the victim cannot be undone. But the inaction of Renfrewshire Council in refusing to install CCTV in our parks can be undone tomorrow, if there is a will.
I have raised the need for CCTV in our parks before. I know the public largely supports this, I know the Police support it but the Council have ignored these calls and don’t view it ‘as a priority’.
This inaction makes you ask what are Renfrewshire Council’s priorities, if they are not protecting the public from the most heinous of crimes.
What more evidence does the Council need to install CCTV in our parks? There is no need for a ‘review’. The evidence is there.
CCTV can help Police Scotland by deterring and detecting crime and anti-social behaviour. It can improve safety for women, children and everyone who uses our public parks and just as importantly make people feel safe in doing so.
I am demanding a meeting with the Renfrewshire Council Leader as soon as possible to see why he thinks the people of Paisley don’t deserve the same protection as people elsewhere.”
