After a spate of break-ins around Cockington and St Marychurch this summer, we’ve had more calls than usual asking whether a driveway gate actually does anything against a determined intruder, or whether it’s mostly for show. It’s a fair question, and it happens to line up with news from security firm Land Sheriffs, who’ve just added drone surveillance to their frontline patrol and CCTV services — using real-time aerial imagery to assess perimeter integrity and flag vulnerable access points before anyone gets near them.
That’s the commercial end of the market, but the thinking behind it applies just as well to a house in Chelston as it does to a rail depot. Security isn’t one device doing all the work — it’s the boundary, the access point and the monitoring working together. A gate that isn’t tied into anything is just a nicer-looking obstacle; one that’s properly specified, with photocell safety beams, an induction loop for vehicle detection and fail-secure locking, actually controls who gets onto the property and when.
Every gate we install has to meet EN 12453 for safe operation, which governs how the system behaves if something or someone is in the way when it’s closing — not optional, whatever the budget. We size the motor to the gate’s weight and wind loading rather than fitting whatever’s on the van, because an underpowered motor on a heavy wrought iron pair in an exposed spot above Babbacombe will burn out within a couple of years.
Where people are serious about tying security together, we pair the gate with a Doormatic garage door and Hikvision CCTV covering the driveway and approach, so the whole boundary is monitored rather than just the one entry point. It’s the same logic as the drone story, just scaled down to a domestic budget — know what’s happening at your boundary before it becomes a problem at your front door.
We’ve been supplying and installing automated gates, garage doors and access systems across Torquay and South Devon for 25 years, from wrought iron and bespoke timber gates through to full CCTV packages. If your current gate is more decoration than deterrent, Automated Gate Co can talk you through what an actual upgrade looks like — details at automatedgatestorquay.co.uk.
