Cameras Installed to Monitor New Car Parking Charge Regimes

Published on: 6 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 6 Jul, 2018

By Chris Dick

Following reports of abusive and threatening behaviour towards Surrey Wildlife staff and contractors, Surrey County Council has installed discreet cameras to monitor new signs and payment meters at Newlands Corner and Wisley & Ockham car parks.

The decision to introduce parking charges has proved controversial and unpopular with many car park users.

New movement activated cameras watch the parking metres.

The contract manager at Wisley & Ockham Common car park, responsible for installing parking signage, who did not wish to be named, told The Guildford Dragon that he, fellow contractors and members of Surrey Wildlife staff had been subjected to a welter of abuse and threats.

Unobstrusive cameras have been mounted in trees.

Some customers also threatened to damage the cameras and the new parking metres at both sites. The manager understood that the video cameras, of the type usually seen on TV nature programs, had been installed because of these threats.

Cllr Julie Iles

Surrey County Councillor Julie Iles (Con, Horsleys) said: “As part of the implementation of car park charges we are installing cameras at all the car parks where meters are going in. These are to protect the meters from possible misuse.

“It is usual to install cameras in isolated rural car parks to act as a deterrent to that misuse.

“Ockham car park already has CCTV cameras to help protect the toilets and café. The additional ones will be focused on the new meters.

“At this stage the costs of the cameras and installation have not been finalised as the new cameras are not yet installed. Once the infrastructure for the car parking charges has been installed then a summary of the costs will be published on our website.”

New sign welcomes visitors to the car park at Wisley.

Richard Cross, a regular dog walker and visitor to Wisley’s Ockham Bites Cafe, told The Dragon: “The cameras on the tree trunks are so low down that they will end up being vandalised. They will need to put up more cameras to monitor the new cameras! And as for the civil liberties aspect some users of this car park won’t like being filmed.”

Responses to Cameras Installed to Monitor New Car Parking Charge Regimes

Martin Elliott Reply

July 6, 2018 at 12:54 pm

Seems, yet again to be ‘smoke and mirrors’ in this message.

They say cameras are only there to protect the cashless parking machines. Do they really need to cover the whole area of the car parks then?

I suspect their primary purpose is to enforce the parking by continuous monitoring; as in other private carparks like supermarkets.

The reliability of such ANPR systems is often in question. Along with the appeals process which places to onus on the appellant to prove when they were in the carpark, not the licensee to prove their timestamped evidence.

Why is Cllr Iles making this explanation instead of Cllr Goodman?

Again, why did Cllr Goodman announce a consultation on what to spend the profits on? He made it quite clear when forcing through this charging scheme that car parking fees were to fund Surrey Wildlife Trust as the SCC wanted to zero fund it.

Editor’s note: Wisley and Ockham lies within Cllr Iles’ constituency.
John Fox Reply

July 7, 2018 at 7:21 am

So Surrey County Council can install these to protect their money-making machines. What about actually installing them at the fly-tipping sites? Nothing is for free in this country anymore. Will there be an air tax soon?
Jim Allen Reply

July 7, 2018 at 9:23 am

What next, cages to protect the cameras, cameras to protect cameras and ANPR cameras to catch people who don’t pay with bailiffs to collect non-payment and mistaken registrations causing further distress to innocent people? Would it not have been cheaper to add 0.0001 pence to the rates instead?
John Perkins Reply

July 9, 2018 at 2:57 pm

It’s not possible to add anything to the rates without exceeding the cap. And much pretence has to be made about not subsidising businesses, except universities.

The current bunch of politicians are bureaucrats by nature who will never understand that the more they interfere the less they achieve.

What was done with the money that used to be spent on subsidies?