For over ten years I was a member and latterly Chairman of a CCTV scrutiny panel in Wycombe. Our remit was to ensure it was efficient and complied with all relevant legislation.

At least I can assure the public that the dozen strong panel never failed to be impressed with the commitment and scrupulousness of the control room operators. Their professionalism and attention to detail was always commendable, as was their knowledge of the area.

The state-of-the-art system, which cost around £200,000 in 2010, was manned 24/7 and the cameras were constantly monitored, when the Lay Panel voluntarily disbanded last year.

The reason we disbanded ties in with the recent concerns expressed by councillor Brian Pearce last week.

In addition to our scrutiny brief, the panel was charged with advising Wycombe District Council on how to use CCTV more ‘efficiently and effectively’.

To enable this there was a commitment to keep us informed of matters that were not legally confidential (like certain police operations). We were however excluded from even the initial consultations on the possibility of relocating the control room operation to other centres in Bucks and began to realise that in some respects at least we were a box ticking exercise rather than a serious advisory body.

I, as chairman, received a polite acknowledgement of our unanimous decision to disband, expressing ‘disappointment’, but not addressing any of our strong concerns.

Members who had served a decade and more received no individual thanks or acknowledgment. The reluctance to include us in the process may well have been because the officers were well aware that our lengthy experience had convinced us that Wycombe should be monitored in and by Wycombe, with the added persuasive factor that ours was a proven, recently installed system and was run by a more directly accountable body – a local council.

‘Why consult a group that you already know is convinced that watching Wycombe from Slough, Aylesbury or Milton Keynes is a retrograde step?’

Tens of thousands have been spent already over four years ‘consulting’ on the future of our locally run CCTV system with no discernible progress. Money which would have kept the control room running smoothly for years.

It is only six years since councillors stood proudly in the new control room. I hope councillor Pearce is not the only one who still can see its potential future importance.