New CCTV for Framlingham's Pageant Field

If you've walked through the Pageant Field play areas in Framlingham this summer, you'll have seen our engineers on site. In July we finished installing a new CCTV system there for Framlingham Town Council, and the council has since written about the project in its own newsletter. We're pleased with how it went, so here's a short account of the job.

How the work was awarded

This wasn't a quick phone call and a van the next morning. The council's Clerk worked with an independent specialist consultant to write a detailed scope of works and a system design first, so the council knew exactly what it wanted before it spoke to any installer. Companies were then invited to tender against that scope.

After reviewing the submissions and meeting the shortlisted contractors, the council's Markets and Revenue Committee appointed us to deliver the project. You'll see us referred to as Security Solutions Yes Ltd, or SSY, in the council's write-up. That's our registered company name. Hawthorne is the name we trade under.

We mention the process because it matters. A well written scope from a neutral consultant means every bidder is pricing the same thing, the council can compare like with like, and the finished system does what the client asked for rather than what the installer felt like selling. We'd rather win work that way.

What was there before

This is the kit that was on the pole when we arrived. Several generations of camera housing, floodlights, exposed cabling and, on one of the housings, somebody's tag in marker pen. Equipment like this tends to have been added a piece at a time over the years, and it reaches a point where the honest answer is to start again with a system that has been designed as a whole.

What's there now

Cameras at several points around the pavilion and play areas, so the whole site is covered rather than one corner of it. The column in the photographs is one of those positions: two cameras at the top, a clean cable run, an anti-climb collar part way up, and a warning sign at the base so everyone using the field knows the cameras are there. Nothing hanging off the pole that doesn't need to be.

The council's own words on the outcome: "The system provides strong coverage of the area and has been designed with future expansion in mind."

That second point was built into the design from the start. Play areas change, councils add lighting or new equipment, and problem spots move. A system that can take extra cameras without ripping out what's already installed saves the council money the next time its needs change.

Installation was completed in a single week in July 2026, which was the final stage of the works.

Why it matters to Framlingham

The council's hope, in its own words, is that the system will "help deter or catch offenders and reduce vandalism". Public play areas are exactly the kind of space where good cameras earn their keep. Parents want to know their children are safe, the council wants its equipment to last, and the police want usable footage when something does happen.

Working with parish and town councils

We work with parish and town councils across Norfolk and Suffolk on CCTV, access control and fire systems for parks, halls, cemeteries, car parks and depots. If you're a Clerk or councillor and you've got a site that needs looking at, we're happy to come out, walk it with you, and give you a straight answer on what would and wouldn't help. If you're going out to formal tender, we'll price against your scope.

Call us on 01603 425 100 or use the contact form.

Source: Framlingham Town Council, Five on Friday, 24 July 2026. Quotations are taken from that post.