The four cameras will be used to monitor the performance of the street layout in terms of safety and slowing down traffic.
“The cameras will do most of the grunt work for us because the technology will be there 24/7 instead of having someone standing there and doing it manually,” Hadfield said.
“We’ve got the cameras. However, we did not realise that council has a CCTV policy.”
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi had suggested waiting to get it signed off.
“The cameras themselves are easy. It is the AI [artificial intelligence] that reads information off that, and we give this to suppliers, so we just have to make sure that information isn’t given to third parties,” Hadfield said.
“The moment we get the [okay] that the information won’t be sent to third parties, then the cameras will go up.”
Hadfield said the policy also ensured that the cameras only pointed at the road and not at private houses.
Councillor Teddy Thompson and deputy mayor Josh Wharehinga said Grey St had been there for some time and people would be upset the trial had not started.
“How does the delay in the cameras being installed materially impact the trial period?” Wharehinga asked.
“The report says the installation was completed in late July. I would have expected the trial to start then.
“There’s a vocal part of the community that wants the trial period to begin ASAP.“
Wharehinga asked if there was anything that prevented the council from starting the trial “yesterday”.
Hadfield said they could start the trial period from the date the safety engineer got to the site, which was Wednesday, July 31.
He advised that the safety engineer had assessed the street this week and the feedback was still in process.
Thompson said he was aware people had concerns about Grey St safety and wanted to know whether the safety report would be shared with the council.
“Everything will go up on the website,” Hadfield said.
Since its construction, the street has been met with protests and criticism of the council not properly consulting with affected businesses.
The project was also initially estimated to cost $350,000, but the final cost ended up being $921,000, with the council covering 10% of the cost and NZTA funding the rest.
Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting, Hadfield said the increased costs had resulted from community feedback for Grey St, which was gathered during the Grey St party held on December 16, 2022.
“Tairāwhiti Adventure Trust led this event and surveyed many of the hundreds who attended to collect data about what they would like to see for Grey St going forward. So the project area was widened, which resulted in increased project costs.”
A council report reviewed by councillors during the meeting mentioned the Grey St protests and letters to the editor in the Gisborne Herald.
The report said the concerns had been noted and would be part of an internal project review process that was to be completed by today.
“This will be a look at our processes and consultation with the Grey St project.
“A supplementary review with NZTA will be completed by the end of August,” the report read.
