COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC REALM AND CLIMATE CHANGE SPC

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

HEADED ITEM NO.

 

Abandoned vehicles are a major blight on the environment and cause considerable concern to the public.   The issue appears to be nationwide and is being considered at local and regional level by WERLA. 

The following is an overview of the current processes and procedures applied in the management of this complex issue.

Relevant Legislation includes:

Section 71 of the Waste Management Act, 1996, as amended, states that a vehicle must not be abandoned on any land and that both a person who abandons a vehicle and the registered owner shall be guilty of an offence.

It further describes "abandoned" as follows:  “abandoned”, in relation to a vehicle, includes left in such circumstances or for such period that it is reasonable to assume that the vehicle has been abandoned, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly

The Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1983 specify that a vehicle which has been abandoned on a public road or in a car park may be removed by or on the authority of a road authority, and that where an officer or an Inspector of the Garda Síochána requests a road authority to remove an abandoned vehicle, the road authority shall comply with such request.  

A road authority may take such steps, including the making of an arrangement with any person, as they think fit, for the removal of an abandoned vehicle in a particular case or generally, and for the storage of a vehicle so removed.

Section 2 of the The Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended describes as follows 'litter means a substance or object, whether or not intended as waste (other than waste within the meaning of waste under the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, which is properly consigned for disposal) that, when deposited in a place other than a litter receptable or other place lawfully designated for the deposit, is or is likely to become unsightly, deleterous, nauseous or unsanitary, whether by itself or with any other such substance or object, and regardless of its size or volume or the extent of the deposit'

Section 3.1 of the same act relating to prohibitions states that no person shall deposit any substance or object so as to create litter in a public place or in any place that is visible to any extent from a public place.

Section 6 of the act places a duty on occupiers of land and provides that the occupier shall keep the land free of litter that is to any extent visible from a public place.

Section 9.1 of the act provides for the service of notices and specifies that : Where it appears to a local authority that a person is contravening any provision of Section 6 , or that precautionary measures are required to prevent the creation of litter in the functional area of the local authority, the local authority may serve a notice on the person requiring the person to remove the litter to which the contravention relates or take such other precautionary measures specified in the notice as the local authority considers necessary.

The European Union (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations 2014 (SI No 281 of 2014) came into effect on 30 July 2014. The Waste Management (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations were introduced in Ireland in 2006. These regulations ensure that when a car is scrapped, as much material as possible is recovered and recycled. This takes place in a way that does not harm the environment

Typically, an end-of-life vehicle will be an intact passenger car or a light commercial van that the registered owner wishes to dispose of as waste.

The matter of dealing with abandoned vehicles is an extremely complex one, therefore each case is dealt with on a case by case basis, in many cases in conjunction with the Garda Síochana under the relevant sections of the legislation referred to above.

Complaints relating to abandoned vehicles usually comprise the following:

On receipt of a complaint the Council must determine if vehicles are in fact abandoned. The following characteristics are generally common to abandoned vehicles, and one or more will be taken into consideration when determining if a vehicle is abandoned:

In some cases burned out cars are reported as abondoned. However, a vehicle in a totally burned out and in a shell state is deemed to be metal waste.

Photographs are obtained of the vehicle to record its location and condition.

It should be noted that certain complaints of "abandoned" cars are solely traffic matters and these are referred directly to the Gardai. 

Similarly, other reports relate solely to "nuisance vehicles" are not in fact abandoned, such as:

The inspection of the abandoned vehicle by the Council's Warden Service informs the procedure to be applied by the Council for the removal of the vehicle. 

As referred to above, the Council may utilize the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, and the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended and Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1983 and the European Union (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations 2014.  

In the case where registration plates are in evident, an ownership check to ascertain the registered owner of the vehicle is requested from the Motor Tax office. (The registered owner has the meaning assigned to it by the Road Traffic Act 1961).  On receipt of same, a letter issues to the registered owner advising of the complaint regarding their vehicle and asking them of their intentions of the vehicle. 

If the vehicle remains in place and is considered to constitute 'litter', within the meaning of the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, the Council may issue a Notice pursuant to Section 3 and / or 9 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, requiring the removal of the vehicle.  If this Notice is not complied with, within the timeframe specified in the Notice, the Council will arrange its removal under the Litter Pollution Act 1997, as amended, to an authorised treatment facility (ATF).

Where no registration plates are evident  and the Council pursued all reasonable steps to identify the registered owner of a vehicle, the vehicle shall, pursuant to Section 71 (7)(c) of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, become the property of the Council and the Council, can, in good faith, arrange for its removal to an authorised treatment facility.

South Dublin County Council receives complaints on a regular basis regarding "abandoned" vehicles.  However as outlined above, not all such complaints prove to be relative to abandoned  vehicles.

The following is an outline of the complaints received since 2014 

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Road Traffice (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations referred to earlier, the Council also continues to work in close collaboration with the Gardai in relation to vehicles which may be "of interest" in the course of their investigations of criminal activity.