CCTV for bridge

Julie Gilbert • Published 31 Mar 2010 13:00

Fourteen CCTV cameras are to be installed on the Erskine Bridge to deter people from taking their own lives.

And plans for other safety measures are progressing well, the Post understands.

A letter from the Scottish Government has been sent out to politicians and community councils which lie within the shadow of the bridge to update them on what is being done to improve safety there.

The letter outlines plans to set up CCTV surveillance on the bridge to monitor "suspicious activity by pedestrians".

It says the design for the system is almost complete and that 14 cameras will be ordered soon.

Tests on possible adjustments to the parapet to make it higher or harder to climb are also progressing well.

A range of parapet extensions, replacements, anti-climbing measures and other options will be presented by Amey - which manages and maintains the bridge - to the Government by the end of April.

Selected options will then be taken forward for wind tunnel testing. If an adjustment to the parapet is found which is both effective and safe, the Government could be able to seek tenders to carry out the adjustments as early as December.

Rhona Young, chairwoman of the Old Kilpatrick Community Council, is delighted at the progress as her group and other community councils in the area demanded action after the suicides of Georgia Rowe, 14, and Neve Lafferty, 15, who took their lives from the bridge in October.

She said: "This is a direct result of the public meeting we had and it feels like we're getting somewhere.

"I'm really pleased that progress is being made now."

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This article appeared in Clydebank Post 31 Mar 10

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