WRITTEN ON July 7th, 2005 BY Richard S AND STORED IN Design: Co-creation, What do we want?

On leaving the free car park of a local hyper-market, after a rare visit, I noticed the signs for their latest parking control scheme: “Maximum stay 3 hours: Penalty 70 Pounds!”

Apparently under pressure from the local council which wants to protect the revenue from its own car parks; the hyper-market has installed CCTV and car number-plate recognition. This system compares photos of arrival and departure times; automatically posting penalty notices to anyone who overstays the limit.

I have three objections to this:

1. CCTV linked to the DVLA records seems heavy handed and inappropriate.
2. Where is the discretion necessary for natural justice?
3. A 70 pound penalty is wholly disproportionate.

This looks like part of the “authorities” war against cars (and private travel).

On wider policy grounds:

This hyper-market is adjacent to the struggling shopping district of the town. People often park there to visit other local shops before visiting the hyper-market. Until now, the hyper-market has been happy that this brings extra customers. (There are two other hyper-markets nearby but further from the other shops.)

In reality, many people drive to the town. Starting cars to drive short distances causes extra pollution and wear because the cold engines do not reach efficiency. It also increases road congestion.

Rather than forcing people to move their cars between nearby car parks, or dissuading them completely from shopping in this struggling town, would it not be better to persuade people to park in one convenient place and then to walk to any other local shops?