Council blunder as Kettering park CCTV cameras put up without permission

Council-run CCTV cameras in Kettering which are being probed by a Government watchdog were put up without the required planning permission.

Surveillance began last spring at the Rockingham Road Pleasure Park, North Park and Mill Road Park as part of a £150,000 project to make the town safer.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has faced a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office that the systems have not complied with the law because they lacked signs required by data protection regulations - meaning many park users may potentially have been illegally monitored.

And now it's been revealed that the cameras didn't even have planning permission when they were installed after a council blunder, forcing NNC to begin action to apply for retrospective consent.

NNC say they are working to address and outstanding issues but that there is no requirement to turn the cameras off until they are sorted.

One whistleblower said: "It's an old chestnut that people with nothing to fear should have nothing to hide.

"But that takes for granted that the authorities doing the monitoring are following all the legal guidelines and acting professionally.

"I don't have very much confidence that the council can be trusted to run CCTV systems when it forgets the pretty basic legal requirement to have signs warning people that they are being filmed and, even more basically, makes such a huge planning cock-up."

The cameras were installed by the former Kettering Borough Council, which was scrapped as part of last year's local Government shake-up, and emails seen by the Northants Telegraph said their officers believed they did not need planning permission.

Government legislation says permitted development - work which doesn't require planning consent - only applies for local authorities for structures not exceeding 4m in height. The park cameras appear to be taller than 4m. It's understood that a data protection impact assessment, which should be produced before systems are installed, was also not written until four months later.

One email from a NNC officer said they would be submitting retrospective planning applications over the cameras.

But a whistleblower said not turning them off in the meantime shows 'scant regard' for the laws the council upholds for others.

They said: "The only responsible thing for the council to do is to shut down the cameras immediately, much as it might take immediate enforcement action to stop a pub selling alcohol without a licence.

"It seems to me that continuing to operate them demonstrates scant regard for the self-same planning laws which the council should be upholding. It should not be a question of 'oops, we've made a technical error which really has no practical impact'.

"By not undertaking the planning application process the council has denied park users and people living around the parks the opportunity to object or to comment on the details and to seek reassurances about how the cameras are used in practice.

"There are real invasion of privacy issues which need answering as part of planning application consultation, not least being what level can the cameras snoop into people's homes through windows or can be used by voyeuristic operators to spy on individuals or courting couples."

Cllr Anne Lee (Lab, Windmill) said putting the cameras up without planning permission is 'shocking'.

She said: "I am in favour of CCTV cameras but the rules which are followed by everyone else need to be followed here as well.

"We have to rely on officers following the rules and when that is not the case, like in the Geoff Monks case (where he was wrongly prosecuted and won a £4m payout), we've seen what can happen."

A North Northamptonshire Council spokesman said: “CCTV plays a key role in keeping communities safe by helping in the prevention of crime and also through providing a source of evidence.

“CCTV operations are governed by a national code of practice with which we need to comply to ensure the system is operated in good faith.

“We are aware of legacy issues and our community safety team is working with our planners to address any outstanding issues.

“There is no requirement to turn off the cameras in the meantime.”