Hillingdon Council is set to modernise its parking enforcement by purchasing a vehicle fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to help clamp down on unauthorised parking.
The council’s Cabinet gave the green light for the vehicle to be purchased.
The decision follows a successful 26-day trial of the technology in July 2024, which saw a vehicle deployed across three of the borough’s wards (Heathrow Villages, Uxbridge and Northwood Hills) to detect vehicles parking in the council’s parking management schemes without the correct permits or exemptions. During the trial, 602 different streets were visited, more than 7,500 checks were made and 62 PCNs issued.
The new technology allows Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) to carry out more checks across a wider area in less time. The ANPR cameras, linked to the council’s parking permit database, highlight potential parking contraventions to the CEOs, who can then follow up with a manual verification and check for valid parking approvals, such as visitor permits and blue badges. Not all alerts result in a Penalty Charge Notice.
The technology will also provide additional benefits by allowing CEOs to help with the enforcement of the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to stop taxis and private hire vehicles waiting in residential streets near Heathrow Airport (unless they are collecting or dropping off passengers in those streets or are based or live there) which came into force in February.
As a result of the effectiveness of this technology and to create a more sustainable parking enforcement service by reducing fixed camera maintenance costs, the council’s Cabinet also agreed for some fixed School Keep Clear (SKC) cameras to be decommissioned. Instead, the ANPR cars will be deployed to monitor adherence at school sites across the borough and maintain road safety around schools and surrounding streets, with SKC cameras maintained in the 10 locations with the highest levels of detected non-compliance.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, said: “We’re committed to being a digital-enabled, modern council, which delivers value for money for residents.
“We’re always looking for ways to reshape services, and following the ANPR trial last summer it clearly showed that this technology can be a more effective and efficient way to carry out parking enforcement activity, including SKC areas and our new PSPO.
“The rollout will support our CEOs to cover larger areas and provide greater flexibility in their deployment to busy areas, ensuring parking remains accessible, fair and our roads are safe for all users.”
For more information about parking in Hillingdon, visit www.hillingdon.gov.uk/parking.
