Parking Company Charges Unlawful ?

[g1057]

Hi I recently applied for a FOI request from a city council regarding planning permission for a car parking company erecting cameras and signage ,at a local reatail site car park. Apparently , even though this company is charging people to park , and issuing parking charge notices , they have NEVER applied for planning permission to do this ,is this lawful.

[Buenchico]

The company that created the retail park will have obtained planning permission for the site as a whole, which includes the car park. Charging for use of that car park isn't a 'change of use' and therefore does not require any further planning permission.

The use of CCTV to monitor car parking is perfectly legal as long as the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation are complied with. Planning permission would only be required if, for example, a new structure was to be built to mount the cameras on. (Even then, it would only be the structure. per se, that required consent and not the actual cameras or their use).

[g1057]

The company used to have just pay machines , they then decided to install cameras on poles , and just cover the old machines up , which caused a bit of confusion . 6 months after the cameras were in use , they decided to install new signage to inform customers of the cameras .

[Atheist]

g1057, you really need to ask your local planning authority (usually your local council) if planning permission was needed and if it was given. Whatever AB thinks, it's the LPA who make the decision. You could probably contact them by e-mail or other online route via their web-site.

[Buenchico]

In order to be able to charge for parking, the operator of the site must clearly display signs stating what the charges are. If such signs are in place, anyone who then uses the car park enters into a contract to pay the charges that he/she has been notified of. It's entirely up to operator of the car park as to how such charges are enforced. (i.e. it makes no difference as to whether cameras are used or whether a man with a notebook patrols the car park).

Businesses using CCTV must register with the Information Commissioner’s Office and notify people who might appear in the recordings that CCTV is in operation:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1542/cctv-code-of-practice.pdf
However it's extremely unlikely that a court would rule that failure to do so could invalidate any parking charges, as the contract between a car driver and the operator of the car park is independent of the rules relating to CCTV.

[g1057]

When you say new structures,do you mean the poles to erect new cameras and signage on , as this question was asked. The Council informed us that no planning permission had been applied for the erection of cameras signage and poles. Thanks

[Peter Pedant]

AA perhaps ?

[Peter Pedant]

this is completely ancillary but is an interesting read

https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/anpr-parking-tickets/

[Buenchico]

The poles (and possibly their associated cameras too, as they affect the visual impact of such poles) probably do need planning consent. It still doesn't affect the validity of any parking charges though.