“Exciting” Automatic Number Plate Recognition plans for Welsh council car parks

Richard Evans, Local democracy reporter

Denbighshire County Council is considering using Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to create “heat maps of non-compliance” in its car parks before increasing targeted traffic warden patrols.

Councillors provisionally agreed plans this month to expand parking enforcement across the county, with two additional officers set to be recruited to improve coverage and “compliance”.

The decision was backed by the council’s Communities Scrutiny Committee at its March meeting at the authority’s Ruthin County Hall HQ.

Members heard the authority currently employs five full-time Civil Enforcement Officers to patrol the entire county on a weekly rota, with one senior post vacant.

But a recent restructure means the parking enforcement team has moved into the Traffic and Transportation section and is now overseen by a Parking and CCTV Manager.

As part of the restructure, two new Civil Enforcement Officer positions have been created, boosting the numbers to seven.

The committee also heard that, during the 2024–25 financial year, officers issued 7,380 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), an increase of 753 compared to the previous year – with 4,874 tickets issued on the highway and 2,506 issued in car parks.

But the council is now exploring the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

The report states: “We are currently exploring the potential role of ANPR camera enforcement, although it is important to note that councils have fewer powers than private car park operators in the use of camera enforcement in car parks, such as through issuing fines ‘through the post’.

“However, we can potentially use ANPR cameras to provide real-time information on parking contraventions as a source of data for the parking enforcement team.

“The data would also enable ‘heat maps’ of non-compliance to be gathered to better inform the future deployment of staff.”

The report added: “ANPR cameras would also streamline the enforcement process within those car parks where it is deployed, saving time for enforcement officers.”

The two new traffic warden posts will cost £35,275, including salary and costs, whilst the “ANPR camera enforcement technology typically costs in the range of £15k to £30k per car park”.

Council officer Mike Jones said: “What we can do is use cameras linked to the pay-and-display machine. What typically happens is somebody will have to input their vehicle registration when purchasing the ticket, or similarly if they have a virtual permit.

“The system can then work out which vehicles have come in past the camera and which vehicles haven’t paid, and therefore alert officers.

“So when officers visit a car park, they don’t have to check every vehicle as they currently have to; they already know which vehicles haven’t paid. That’s a real time saver, potentially, and really about driving efficiency.

“We’d love to do this on a pilot basis to start with, because there are some high capital costs around cameras, but I think it’s really something that’s exciting and something that we should explore to try to be more efficient.”

Cllr Andrea Tomlin said: “I know, growing up, my children and now my grandchildren growing up into adults, I don’t ever recall any child with a burning desire to become a traffic warden.

“So I’m just wondering how realistic you think we will be in filling those vacant posts, because I’m pretty certain we’ve had difficulty before. If we can’t, all of this falls, doesn’t it?”

She added she welcomed a rolling programme of officers visiting school areas at pick-up times, because parents were “abusing” double yellow lines and zigzags.

Officers admitted it was difficult to recruit for certain jobs and said there was work going on between council departments on how to recruit for challenging posts.

Councillors were then told traffic warden “beats and patrols” at school pick-up times could be looked at.

The committee agreed it had considered the report and provided observations on the potential options for increasing the effectiveness of parking enforcement coverage.

A report will return for debate at a future Denbighshire County Council meeting at Ruthin County Hall HQ.