Cambridgeshire car park could be upgraded to stop parking ‘abuse’

A new management system could be installed in the car park

A Cambridgeshire car park could be upgraded to tackle parking “abuse”. ParkingEye has proposed to install a car park management system in the car park along St Mary’s Street and at the back of 28 High Street in Huntingdon.

This would involve installing an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera and ANPR column. The parking company wants to install the management system to “reduce car park abuse and ensure spaces are available for genuine site users”.

The car park has 20 parking bays, including disabled spots. The applicant added: “The scheme has been located on an area of land that is already used for car parking and as such will not significantly impact upon visual or landscape receptors. The proposal will ensure that the existing car park is used more effectively and reduce the amount of abuse that currently occurs.”

If approved, the cameras will be installed on columns which will “monitor the entrance and exit points of the car park”. There will also be additional signage on new and existing poles detailing the terms and conditions of using the car park.

The applicant said there is currently no “sophisticated system” to manage the car park, which leaves it open to “misuse and can often mean that spaces are not available for people using the site”.

The development will have a minimal impact on the local landscape and character. Access to the car park will also remain the same.

ANPR cameras used high speed optical character recognition to instantly read vehicle registration plates. This is then cross referenced with real-time to track the vehicles movements.