CCTV cameras across the Mornington Peninsula Shire will be brought back online after councillors voted to spend $500,000 fixing the issue following growing crime concerns and anti-social behaviour.
The decision, made at the 23 September council meeting, will see 60 existing cameras restored in six localities including Hastings, Mornington, Mt Eliza, Mt Martha, Rosebud and Rye. An additional 30 cameras will also be installed across the municipality.
Many, if not all cameras, have sat idle due to lack of maintenance, leaving what some say is a huge gap in public safety surveillance, particularly in trouble spots such as Hastings where traders have experienced repeated shop break-ins, vandalism and theft (Hastings traders ‘fed-up’ over rising crime, The News 24/04/25). “This investment is required to bring these existing systems back into operational status to support Victoria Police operations and improve perceptions of community safety,” a council report said.
The shire also confirmed that the three Victoria Police monitoring locations at Hastings, Mornington and Rosebud Police stations had all been consulted on the operational status of the current CCTV systems and “proposed upgrades that would help with community policing”.
Cr Stephen Batty spearheaded the CCTV network review following what he described as “a personal experience” in January, noting there had been a “virtual neglect of the CCTV operating system”.
While acknowledging the cameras were technically a state government responsibility, Batty said “safety is a major concern” and “we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to such an important infrastructure”.
Cr Paul Pingiaro agreed, adding he had spoken to police at Mornington Police Station and they were “so supportive of this to bring it forward to help protect our community.”
Hastings Gold Mine co-owner Wayne Magdziarz said the investment was long overdue as crime was only getting worse. He said there had been many cases where he had to provide his own shop CCTV to police and it “still hasn’t stopped people”.
“I don’t know how many times we’ve been hit and vandalised and broken into… we’ve got very good security and very good CCTV and things like that, but we’ve nearly been burnt down,” he told The News. “It’s a joke around here… and they’re not doing anything about it. It will be another two years before they do anything”.
The shire’s security contractor undertook an audit of Hastings CCTV cameras in April, but a report was not presented to councillors until five months later. According to Hastings traders, the cameras have been out of action since at least July last year.
In a statement Victoria Police said, “while CCTV is ultimately a matter for council, it plays an important role in helping to solve crime. Anyone who has CCTV of an incident is urged to come forward and provide that to police”.
“Police will continue to engage with residents, traders, and the Mornington Peninsula Shire at community-focussed meetings, such as Neighbourhood Policing Forums and youth crime, prevention and safety forums to help identify issues and allocate resources to matters causing the most harm in our community.”
Councillors voted unanimously in support of the CCTV upgrade, which will be funded through the shire’s 2025-26 capital works initiative.
Cr Max Patton proposed an amendment to the motion seeking that council “review evidence-based approaches to community safety and crime prevention” including youth engagement through art, music, sport and more – but this was unsuccessful in a vote of seven councillors against three.
Cr Bruce Ranken, who did not support the amendment, said, “We know that there’s a crime issue. We know that there’s a safety issue. Let’s just get on with it”.
Patton said he recognised the role CCTV can play in assisting police “but in my view it’s the last line of defence and reacts to crime after it’s happened”. “Prevention, I think, is more effective and often cheaper than surveillance and enforcement,” he said.
First published in the Mornington News – 30 September 2025
