CCTV should be up and running in Holywell before the end of the year. Eight eagerly-awaited cameras are about to be installed in the town centre following a successful bid for funding by the local authority on behalf of the recently-established Flintshire Rural Partnership. The three-month contract with BT to install the cabling connections has been signed this week. The cameras will be connected to the county council's monitoring suite at County Hall in Mold. Funding of £179,000 has been secured from the Welsh Assembly towards the £314,000 scheme, with Holywell Town Council and the local authority putting up the rest of the cash. Cllr Derek Butler, Flintshire County Council's executive member for economic development and chairman of the Flintshire Rural Partnership Board, said: 'As chairman of the recently-established Flintshire Rural Partnership, the news about the successful bid for Holywell CCTV is an exciting start for the partnership.' 'It is also excellent news for Holywell because it is another of the key schemes helping to make the town centre a better and safer place to visit.' Shopkeepers and the business community have also given the project their seal of approval. Stephen Hughes, chairman of the Holywell and district business association said: 'Obviously we're delighted with this positive outcome which will reduce the already low crime rate. 'CCTV is another major development in a town which is continuing to prosper and will make people feel even safer when out and about.' Town mayor Cllr Peter York said after four unsuccessful bids, Holywell's CCTV dream has finally been realised. 'The people of Holywell are delighted and we're hoping this will encourage even more people to come and shop in the town,' he said. 'The more people that shop here, the more chance we have of keeping vandalism and petty crime at bay.' County councillor Peter Curtis also feels the cameras will act as a valuable weapon in fighting crime in Holywell. `This is something we've been after for a long, long time,' he said. 'We have tried and failed on various occasions but we've kept persevering. 'We mustn't run away with the idea that all our troubles will now go away. But it's definitely another cog in the wheel and a big step in the right direction.' This is the first project approved under the new Rural Development Programme, co-ordinated by the Flintshire Rural Partnership. . | 
