Cockhedge Shopping Centre has no planning permission for controversial parking cameras
Many motorists have been hit with £100 fines after the installation of automatic number plate recognition cameras at Cockhedge Shopping Centre, but the cameras were installed without planning permission. CONTROVERSIAL parking cameras at the Cockhedge Centre were installed without obtaining planning permission.
Shoppers have been threatening to boycott Cockhedge Shopping Centre after scores of motorists were slapped with £100 fines after the installation of automatic number plate recognition cameras in November.
But the shopping centre and car park operators Parking Eye did not have planning permission to erect the cameras and have now submitted a retrospective application for them.
A number of residents have objected to the planning application, with complaints about the visibility of signage and machines that do not tell motorists how much they need to pay for parking.
Paddington resident Lynda Eagan said: “The system before with the ticket and barrier was fair and perfectly adequate – when Parking Eye took over they immediately introduced a system that is designed to make the motorist fail and force them to pay an exorbitant £100.
“Anyone using the spaces for more than two hours must pay, but nowhere does the system help the motorist to know how long they have parked or what fee they owe –the pay terminal could quite easily display the length of stay when the car’s registration number is entered.
“When this new operator took over they changed the condition from free Sunday parking to a 24/7 payment system – no additional signs were even temporarily displayed to make motorists aware of this.
“So many people fell afoul of this nasty trick in the run up to Christmas when the park was so heavily used.”
An anonymous complainant said they would not shop in the town centre again because of the fines.
The resident of Derek Avenue in Orford said: “The company have, in the past, been guilty of bully boy tactics as they attempt to extort money from the unsuspecting and the innocent as well as the guilty.
“The fines themselves are punitive and in no way reflect the real value of the ‘crime’ - £100 for not paying a £3 charge is robbery.
“It’s totally unacceptable - I for one will never use any shop in town again.”
Another anonymous objection said the system at the car park, which has a total of 480 car parking spaces and 31 disabled bays, was designed to trap motorists.
They said: “Once again a car parking control business has entered our town and set up a system designed to deceive the public and cause an outcry – then they put in a retrospective planning application in to install cameras.
“They are a viable business so they knew they needed planning permission.
“The Cockhedge Centre may well end up the loser.”
In a statement, Parking Eye said that planning permission was not required and was submitted at the request of the client and any tickets issued would be unaffected.
The new system also saw free two-hour parking extended to all shopping centre users whereas it had previously been solely for Asda customers.
A spokesperson for Cockhedge Shopping Centre said: “The operators believed planning permission was not required as this has been the case in a number of other council areas where the system has been installed.
“It is not the responsibility of the landlord to procure planning permission for an initiative which has been warmly welcomed by our shoppers and traders and has resulted in Cockhedge being one of the few city centre chopping centres in the north west with unconditionally free car parking.”
http://www.thisischeshire.co.uk/news/14308881.Cockhedge_Centre_has_no_planning_permission_for_controversial_parking_cameras/
