Museum could introduce number plate cameras and £100 parking fines

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

Visitors to one of Wales’ best-known museums could face changes to how they pay for parking, under new plans that would introduce number plate recognition cameras and fines for drivers who fail to pay.

The plans show drivers would no longer be able to use cash to pay for parking at Big Pit, the national mining museum in Blaenavon, with only card payments, mobile payments and payment via an app accepted.  

Two ANPR, or automatic number plate recognition, cameras mounted on five metre tall poles, would be positioned at the entrance and exit of the main car park, and the overflow car park. 

The museum, which is free to enter other than for underground tours, currently charges £5 a day for car parking but it is free for blue badge holders and motorbikes. Free parking for blue badge holders will continue but it is unclear if motorcyclists will still be entitled to free parking. 

Drivers who fail to pay, or whose vehicle registration hasn’t been entered correctly on the system, will be hit with £100 fines but reduced to £60 for those who can afford to pay within 14 days. 

Details of the proposed changes, described as “a minor, functional update to existing brownfield car parking areas” at the museum have been revealed in a planning application to Torfaen Borough Council seeking permission for cameras and poles, a new payment machine and new signage. 

The changes have been described as reversable but a letter, submitted on behalf of applicants Amgueddfa Cymru, confirms while the application states the signage would be for 10 years the intention is they will remain in place permanently. 

The plans also include three new entrance signs, in Welsh and English, with one on a new 3.5m tall post and seven bilingual signs promoting the ‘RingGo’ payment app all to be placed on existing posts and four new Blue Badge signs on existing posts are also proposed. 

The existing pay-and-display unit near the museum entrance will be replaced with a new “energy-efficient” payment machine. 

The application states changes have been “strictly minimised to prevent visual clutter and avoid unnecessary physical intrusion into the historic fabric of the site” with existing posts used for signage where possible. 

It also states: “The new camera columns and bilingual signage are slimline, clean, and modest in scale, avoiding prominent ridge lines or visual impacts to the surrounding landscape.” 

According to the application: “The proposed development introduces a new parking management and signage strategy for the Big Pit National Coal Museum, designed to improve the overall visitor experience and facilitate the implementation of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system.  

“The proposed ANPR technology will enable a more efficient and user-friendly parking process, reducing reliance on traditional ticketing methods and improving the management of visitor parking across the site.”