Car parking data cameras allowed near Milton Keynes football stadium shops

The Crown Estate, the owner of the land at the MK1 shops near the MK Dons football stadium, want to glean all sorts of data about the comings and goings at the car park.

Milton Keynes Council planners have been told by The Crown Estate’s agent that the there are “no plans to change time restrictions on parking,” and that the “parking process and limitations will remain unchanged for consumers”.

The cameras, and 110 signs to go with them, will be used to read number places to see where people come from to visit the site. They are also looking for data on how long people stay in the car park, and how many repeat visits are made.

Planning agent, Lucy Battersby, in a letter to MK Council and published on the council’s website, says The Crown Estate is wanting the data to “help inform decisions that are made to benefit their customers and visitors to the site”.

MK1 shopping centre has an M&S, H&M, a Primark, plus a range of other high profile retailers as well as an Odeon cinema, and a range of big brand name restaurants.

Council planning officers, who used their delegated power to make the decision on December 17, said: “The car parking area is considered to be sufficiently distant from the public road network for the proposed scheme of cameras and signage to have any detrimental impact on public and highway safety.

“Posts and signs are a regular feature of car parking layouts.”