COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
MOTION NO. 1
MOTION: Councillor M. Duff
"That this Committee calls on the Chief Executive to set up a programme of removal, from within housing estates in the Tallaght Area, of vehicles that are parked on the Public Roads, in an undriveable condition, many of which have the engines removed, missing wheels or are otherwise mounted on blocks and being used for spare parts. These vehicles pose a health and safety risk to citizens and can be considered to be the worst form of litter."
REPORT:
"Abandoned vehicles are a major blight on the environment and cause considerable concern to the public.
The management of abandoned vehicles is an extrememly complex one, therefore, each case is dealt with on a case by case basis, in many cases in conjunction with the Garda Síochana.
To date in 2017 a total of 239 complaints have been received in the Tallaght area. 193 of those complaints have been dealt with i.e. the cars have been removed or the cars have been deemed not abandoned. The remaining 46 complaints are currently being processed.
On receipt of a complaint the Council must determine if vehicles are in fact abandoned. The following characteristics are generally common to reports of abandoned vehicles, and one or more will be taken into consideration when determining if a vehicle is abandoned:
- they are untaxed for a considerable period of time
- they have no evident details of recent activity on the motor tax register e.g. change of ownerhip/address
- they are stationary for a significant period of time
- they are significantly damaged, in poor state of repair or un-roadworthy (flat tyres/wheels removed etc.)
- missing registration plates
Similarly, other reports relate solely to "nuisance vehicles"and 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
The inspection of the abandoned vehicle by Council personnel informs the procedure to be applied by the Council for the removal of the vehicle. In most cases the Council exercises the statutory powers as provided for in Section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended. The Council also continues to work in close collaboration with the Gardaí in relation to vehicles which may by "of interest" in the course of their investigations of criminal activity.
In the case where registration plates are in evidence an ownership check to ascertain the registered owner of the vehicle is requested from the Motor Tax Office. On receipt of same a letter issues to the registered owner advising of the complaint regarding their vehicle and asking them to either move the vehicle or to advise of their intentions for the vehicle.
Where no registration plates are evident the Council pursues all reasonable steps to identify the registered owner of a vehicle, details of such vehicles are entered on the Council's website in the hope of determining who the owner of the vehicle is.
A number of notices are served on the registered owner requesting that the vehicle be removed, details of these notices are also published on the website where the registered owner is unknown. Pursuant to Section 71 (7) (c) of the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, if the vehicle is not removed within the prescribed timeframe then the vehicle becomes the property of the Council and the Council can, in good faith, arrange for its removal to an authorised treatment facility for disposal. However, because of presecribed procedure and associated timeframes, this process can take up to 6 weeks to complete.
In instances where abandoned vehicles are deemed to be a danger to the public removal is arranged immediately."