Cameras to be installed outside Bristol schools to catch parents parking illegally

Plans to install cameras to catch Bristol parents parking illegally on the school run have been approved unanimously by city councillors. The transport and connectivity policy committee voted in favour of introducing a trial of CCTV that can automatically read number plates.

But Green group leader Cllr Emma Edwards warned it would not be a ‘silver bullet’ and that encouraging parents not to park irresponsibly in the first place was as important as fines. The committee agreed to a raft of other recommendations from Bristol City Council officers over parking policies, including increasing the number of traffic wardens – now called civil enforcement officers – from 52 to 70, along with a potential £5,000 salary hike to address a recruitment crisis.

Members also approved proposals to scrap free business permits for zero emissions vehicles, although Labour’s three councillors on the committee voted against saying it was ‘anti-car and anti-business’. The school parking CCTV trial will involve an initial four cameras that use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) deployed on a rotational basis outside schools in problem areas before the scheme would be rolled out further.

Cllr Tim Rippington (Labour, Brislington East) told the meeting on Thursday, December 5: “I welcome this. Enforcement around schools is extremely difficult with the number of schools, and getting around them is extremely difficult for enforcement officers and the police.

“By the time they get there, the people who are parking irresponsibly or illegally have moved on. These cameras should be an additional tool that will give us more ability to tackle those difficult roads around schools, so I’m happy to support this.”

Cllr Graham Morris (Conservative, Stockwood) said: “I welcome the introduction of ANPR. My experience of taking my children to school is that the parking and driving is horrendous and it endangers the lives of young people and families, so anything we could do to help reduce that behaviour is to be welcomed.”

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Cllr Edwards (Green, Bishopston & Ashley Down) said: “I welcome this but it’s not a silver bullet. Not every school is eligible for a school street but the fact that schools are asking us for school streets shows that they can see the scale of the problem and that they’re willing to engage parents and look at modal shift.

“It’s about educating parents, getting them onboard, rather than just the enforcement. We would rather people didn’t drive their children to school or park antisocially in the first place.”

A report to councillors said: “Camera enforcement is heavily restricted by legislation, but parking on ‘school keep clear’ markings, provided they are supported by a traffic regulation order, is one of the few contraventions which can be enforced using camera technology.” Proposals to remove free business permits for zero emissions vehicles were approved by 6-3 votes.

Committee chairman Cllr Ed Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) said it was an essential loophole to plug because it currently meant more drivers getting free parking at the same time that the city aimed to become carbon neutral. But Cllr Kaz Self (Labour, Southmead) said: “I’m a bit concerned about some of the businesses that will be impacted – things like a florist who is trying to transition to electric vehicles for good reasons but has maybe bought an electric vehicle (EV) in a place like Clifton.

“It strikes me that it’s anti-car and anti-business.” Cllr Rippington said: “The fact it has a negligible financial impact, we are a bit worried about the negative impact it might have on encouraging businesses to move over to EVs.”

Cllr Plowden said: “Once you’ve got an EV, the cost of driving it per mile is about one-sixth of an internal combustion engine, so they are already reaping the benefits if they’ve managed to transition.” Previous plans to remove third persons’ parking permits in residents’ parking zones (RPZs) will be put on hold ahead of an overall review of RPZs by the committee’s cross-party parking and kerbside strategy taskforce before the issue comes back to the committee for a decision.