Petition calls for CCTV trial on Beaumont Street in Hamilton

10 April 2026

Published at 11:29am
Updated at 11:47am

newy.com.au – Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp has presented a petition to the Acting Lord Mayor calling on City of Newcastle to launch a CCTV trial on Beaumont Street, with more than 1000 people backing the campaign since it began in December 2025.

The petition was presented on Friday after more than 12 months of advocacy for cameras along Hamilton’s main commercial strip amid concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour.

Crakanthorp said he had held community meetings, knocked on doors, run mobile offices on Beaumont Street and spoken with residents and businesses since early last year about safety in the precinct.

“Since early last year, I have held community meetings, knocked on doors, held mobile offices on Beaumont Street talking to residents and walked the street to hear from business about their safety concerns here in Hamilton. Every time I am in Hamilton, I hear the same call out for CCTV,” he said.

He said the petition showed the strength of local support for the proposal.

“More than 1000 Novocastrians have signed this petition, it is clear that this is what the community wants and needs,” he said.

Crakanthorp said the issues facing Beaumont Street were “sensitive and complex”, but government agencies, local businesses and residents had been working together to improve safety, with CCTV still needed as “the missing link”.

The MP said the push for CCTV had been backed during community and stakeholder meetings in early 2025, with support from NSW Police and the former Lord Mayor.

He said several measures had since been rolled out in the Beaumont Street precinct, including increased police patrols under Operation Amarok, a walkthrough with the NSW Police Minister, outreach and mental health support for people experiencing homelessness, an $80,000 NSW Government-backed reinvigoration of Awaba Park, and the establishment of the Hamilton Community Safety Committee.

The petition follows the launch on Wednesday of the Hamilton Community Safety Audit 2026 at James Street Plaza, eight years after the previous audit in 2018.

Details released at the launch said the Hamilton Business Association and City of Newcastle each contributed to the $10,000 audit, which was managed by the Hamilton Community Safety Committee with Julie McKimm of Parker Scanlon over the past three months.

The committee said it was formed in October 2025 by Hamilton residents and business operators alongside Ward 2 councillors and NSW Police Crime Prevention Officer Constable Blake Cleary.

Material released with the audit said a Service NSW outreach project conducted in Hamilton in February and March 2025 found all 42 businesses that responded online were concerned or genuinely concerned about criminal activity, 85 per cent were very concerned, 75 per cent had experienced vandalism and 61 per cent had experienced direct threats of violence.

At the audit launch, committee chair Cr Jenny Barrie said one recommendation was for CCTV surveillance in public spaces so people involved in violent or criminal behaviour could be identified.