Sirens, bollards to improve safety in the CBD in the ‘early stages’, mayor says

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says plans to bolster security in Melbourne’s CBD including bollards and a public siren system to warn of an imminent terror threat is in its infancy. 

He told Neil Mitchell some of those security measures could be very useful but he was surprised to read about it in the weekend newspapers. 

‘Some of these ideas were at a very early stage,’ he said.

‘CCTV and warnings in the city to tell people to get out of the way could be very useful.

‘But for instance when I said to police, ‘who’s got the best practice?’ They couldn’t tell me.

‘Before you go out announcing this stuff, maybe we think through what it means.

‘I don’t want to create fortress Melbourne.’

Meanwhile, he questioned the need for the lights that were installed in the footpath at the corner of Swanston and Little Collins streets to warn pedestrians distracted by their phones.

‘A bit of personal responsibility…how far do you go?’ he said.

‘I stick to my original view, now I understand it was not a joke.’

Click PLAY to hear the full interview: