Lower Hutt City Council granted the apartments consent. Photo: RNZ / Ana Tovey
Hutt City Council is set to begin a trial of automated number plate recognition cameras to police car parking, without first finalising a privacy impact assessment.
An ANPR camera from a West Australian company fitted to one of the Hutt's four parking enforcement vehicles will snap the plates of parked vehicles, then on its return to a street, will register if parking has been paid for.
Testing has begun for the next two weeks, before a $25,000, six-month-long trial from 1 October.
"The chances of getting caught doing the wrong thing are about to increase," the head of environmental protection, Justin Roberts, said in a statement.
The camera system can also identify stolen cars, and check if cars have a warrant and are registered.
If they do not, the owner would only be fined if they had not paid for parking or overstayed.
"A draft privacy impact assessment has been completed. It will not be released until it's been agreed and finalised with council's privacy team," the council told RNZ on Monday.
It is using a system from Perth firm Aero Ranger.