COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
MOTION NO. 7
MOTION: Councillor L. O'Toole
Cathaoirleach's Business
"That this Committee requests the Chief Executive to provide this Council with a report on the number of abandoned cars that have been removed by the Litter Warden in the Lucan & Palmerstown area in comparison to previous years."
REPORT:
Section 71 of the Waste Management Act, 1996, as amended 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".
This subject was discussed at length at the recent Environment, Public Realm & Climate Change SPCs meetings (Held on 1st November 2016 and 7th February 2017) at which it was noted that while the figure of reports / complaints received has increased, certain complaints of "abandoned" vehicles are not necessarily always considered to be abandoned vehicles but rather may fall into traffic matters or may also relate to "nuisance vehicles" are not in fact abandoned, such as:
- Vehicles poorly parked
- Vehicles causing an obstruction
- Vehicles involved in residential parking disputes
- Broken down vehicles
- Untaxed and uninsured vehicles
41 complaints of abandoned vehicles were received for the Lucan EA during 2016 and are catorgised as follows:
- 25 Garda matter
- 1 Removed by authorised collector
- 9 removed by the owners
- 5 End of Life Vechicles
- 1 car not located
22 complaints for the same period in 2015 are catorigised as follows:
- 14 Gardaí matter
- 4 removed by the owners
- 4 owners of vehciles lived on the road
The majority of vehicles reported on above related to vehicles parked long-term in parking spaces.