Located just outside Southampton on the edge of the New Forest, Paultons Park attracts 500,000 visitors each year. The family theme park covers 65 acres, boasting over 50 different rides (including The Cobra and Waverunner rollercoasters) and attractions (among theme Adventure Golf and the Land of the Dinosaurs) plus gardens set across ten acres. It has its own river, some museums and even a collection of exotic birds.
As would be the case for any business that plays host to so many members of the general public each day, managers at Paultons Park necessarily wanted to ensure that it had the security systems in place to protect not just the Park but also the property of its guests.
Monitoring the car parks
The first stage of the security programme installation began four years ago with a CCTV system installed to cover the car park areas. Subsequently, the Bosch Security Systems-based solution has now been rolled out to other areas across the facility, in turn realising many advantages for the day-to-day operation and management of the Park.
Mark Taylor – general manager at Paultons Park – commented: “We can receive thousands of visitors on a peak day who come to the Park for an enjoyable day out as a family. It’s important that we’re able to ensure we protect their property as best we can. In addition, the CCTV system acts as a deterrent to would-be thieves and assists us in surveying outlying areas.”
Taylor and his team initially had two Bosch domes installed along with the same number of static cameras to cover the site. Due to the success of this security initiative and the associated benefits, the system has gradually been extended to other areas of the Park.
Motion tracking capabilities
“We now have 12 Bosch cameras across the site, including EnviroDomes and, most recently, the next generation AutoDomes have been installed to monitor a new ride.” The Generation 4 AutoDome features Bosch’s innovative motion tracking capability AutoTrack, which not only senses movement but also zooms in on the target and tracks it.
“The cameras are strategically positioned for us to monitor particular rides throughout the day,” continued Taylor. “The CCTV images are digitally recorded using the Bosch Divar, with the main monitor in my office and remote access for the directors to view real-time images on their PCs. The system is a vital means of monitoring and managing queue times and helping us with the day-to-day operations of the Park by identifying where additional staff support is required. This is extremely important from a Health and Safety perspective.”
Taylor added: “Similarly, in the car park we’re able to quickly identify and deal with congested areas so that visitors may park as swiftly as possible. The cameras also allow us to monitor visitor behaviour and follow anyone who is misbehaving or acting suspiciously.”
Digital recording and integrated functionality
The Bosch Divar digital recorder is compact and unobtrusive combining flexible digital recording and multiplexing, which not only saves space but also ensures integrated functionality. The Divar allows simultaneous recording and playback of video images, and an ‘overwrite protection’ feature of marked video clips prevents the loss of evidential material.
The CCTV system currently covers the car park and the key areas within Paultons Park, but there are ambitions to extend the camera network still further.
“The flexibility of Bosch’s recording technology allows us to add cameras gradually, as and when we build new rides,” concluded Taylor. “Once it’s installed the technology is very reliable. As you can imagine, this is very important to us. The Bosch technology has proved to be a good investment, with the three-year warranty offering us peace of mind.”
