January Council meeting update

As part of its January monthly meeting, Council has reinforced its commitment to implementing appropriate digital technology, as reflected within its adopted City Plan 2035.

Council welcomed deputations from members of the public on the topic ahead of voting, with the majority of councillors moving in favour of committing to delivering on the City of Salisbury’s Digital Strategy.

Council is aware of and concerned about misleading information which has recently been circulated on the topic of Smart Cities.

The application of digital technology will allow Council to deliver its services more efficiently and better cater to the needs of our community. For example, car parking that can identify vacant spaces and LED lighting that is user activated to reduce unnecessary running time.

The installation of CCTV cameras is aimed at making Salisbury a safer place for all while helping manage occurrences of anti-social activity such as graffiti, hoon driving and illegal dumping.

Council takes the right to privacy of members of the public extremely seriously and respects their freedom within the confines of the law.

As a result, Council does not support the use of facial recognition software and this will not be used in relation to any CCTV that is installed by Council.

Council will continue to provide updates as this project is progressed, both on our website and through other relevant platforms. Council is developing a community communication plan to further explain the extent and application of Smart Cities digital technology across the City and what this will mean for our community.