What is happening with Brighouse Aldi: ANPR cameras set to keep watch at popular car park when new Calderdale Aldi opens
A new Aldi opening in a Calderdale town is planning to have ANPR cameras to ensure shoppers do not stay in its car park for too long.
Work on the new supermarket on Briggate in Brighouse, where Wilko used to be, has been underway since last year.
Now a planning application has been submitted for the installation of two Automatic Number Place Recognition (ANPR) cameras at the site to monitor the use of the store’s car park.
When Wilko was open, the car park was widely used by people to shop there and elsewhere in Brighouse town centre.
Aldi plans to introduce a 90-minute maximum stay when it opens.
In a covering letter submitted with the application for the cameras, real estate firm Avison Young says: “One camera is to be directed west towards the vehicular access point into the store’s car park from Owler Ings Road.
"The purpose of the camera is to photograph vehicles’ registration plate as they enter the car park, in order to record the time that a vehicle enters the car park.
"A second camera is to be facing directly east towards the vehicular exit from the store’s car park onto Commercial Street.
"The purpose of this camera is to photograph vehicles’ registration plate as they exit the car park to ascertain how long each vehicle has spent on site due to the car park now operating a one-and-a-half-hour maximum stay.”
The letter also says parking restrictions are required “to allow the food store to operate as efficiently as possible” and provide “the best possible shopping experience and community asset by allowing customers to use the car park for no more than could be reasonably expected to allow others to park afterwards”.
The cameras at the 94-space car park will be managed by Parkingeye, which also oversees thousands of other sites across the UK.
Parking has been a controversial topic in Brighouse since hikes in parking fees for some spots were agreed last year, which came into force at the end of last month.
On Commercial Street, Market Street, Bradford Road, Gooder Street, Park Street, Bethel Street, Briggate and King Street, pay-and-display bays have seen maximum one-hour stay spaces charges rise from 20p to £1 for half an hour, and from 40p to £2 for one hour.