A PROJECT to install cameras in Silsden may not be dead, after two new ideas on how to fund it have been revealed.

The town's parish council wants to position two closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) along the main street of Kirkgate in a bid to deter vandalism, drug abuse and rowdy behaviour and reduce people's fear of crime.

But it has already been told that Bradford Council would not have the money to pay for the project.

Now two new potential sources of funding have been found which could help foot the bill.

Councillors were told the town could be in line for cash from Europe as part of a new pot of money that has been created.

And the parish council has the option of claiming a small amount from each resident in the town through the council tax.

Charlotte Stannard, who is co-ordinating bids for the new Euro grants, said the project might qualify for some money.

But she added that criteria for successful bids had not yet been laid down.

"We don't know what activities will be funded because we're still at the planning phase," she said.

"This is the likely to be the last chance Britain will get to see a large amount of European funding and we really want to try to make the most of it this time."

Charlotte added that any bid for cash for a CCTV project would have to be matched with funding from the community, but this could include people's time and effort.

She said the CCTV project could qualify for funding if it demonstrated that people were being prevented from going about their normal lives.

Parish councillors were also told that they could use the council tax to collect a small amount from Silsdeners to pay for projects such as CCTV.

Although the organisation gets its money through a grant from City Hall, it does have the power to precept.

This was revealed following a meeting with Bradford Council's chief executive Ian Stewart on the future of parish councils in the district and how they would be funded.

"If the parish council wants to raise money for a specific purpose, a precept could be used and that would not affect our grant," said Coun Michael Elsmore.

Members have already visited Bradford's CCTV control room and been told cameras in Silsden could be linked up to the system.

The cost of installing a system in the town has been estimated at around £30,000, plus a yearly amount for maintaining the scheme.

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