Increase in cars being abandoned in estates

Cork County Council is considering introducing local bylaws to curb a noticeable increase in the number of old or damaged cars being dumped in both private and public housing estates.

Despite some local scrapyards offering €70 to remove unused cars, many motorists are simply choosing to abandon vehicles in privately-owned fields and public places such as the roadside.

For some local authorities, dumped cars are a scourge in relation to litter control.

In Cork Co Council southern division, alone, which includes large commuter towns such as Ballincollig and Carrigaline, more than 140 cases of abandoned cars have been reported to the local authority this year, so far.

Compared to a total of 81 reported incidents in 2015, the figures represents a 73% increase in dumped vehicles.

Normally, when an abandoned vehicle is reported to the council, an inspection is carried out by officials who contact, by letter, the last-known registered owner.

The standard warning letter issued advises the car will be disposed of in 14 days if not removed and the last-known owner will be charged €127 for costs incurred. However, council officials revealed the warning letters are ignored in a majority of cases.

Councillors in the southern division have been informed that disposal of an increasing number of abandoned vehicles was costing the local authority a significant amount of money.

The report on the matter was requested at a meeting of the Ballincollig/Carrigaline municipal district by Cllr Seamus McGrath, the county mayor.

He was advised that under the Road Traffic Acts 1961-1968 and the Road Traffic (removal, storage and disposal of vehicles) Regulations 1983, a vehicle which has been abandoned on a public road or car park may be removed by the local authority.

However, Cllr McGrath said there was local concerns about loopholes in the legislation. He said the council had no local powers to enforce the act in private housing estates which had not been “taken in charge” by the local authority.

“The increase in abandoned cars represents a significant drain on council resources and there doesn’t seem to be any culpability,” Cllr McGrath said.

But council officials at the meeting said in many cases it was hard to trace the owners of some vehicles.

Cllr Daithí O’Donnabhain said parking spaces were at a premium in some residential estates and abandoned cars were becoming a serious problem.

“We need to seek stronger regulations. We need to toughen up on this problem,” he said. “It can also be a public hazard where some of these vehicles are set alight.”

Councillors decided to refer the issue to its Environmental Special Purposes Committee and to the Cork County Joint Policing Committee in an effort to see what action can be taken.

Municipal district chairman Cllr Derry Canty said the council had previously brought in legislation to prevent people selling cars on sides of roads.

However, he said transactions were now taking place in housing estates. “We bring in the legislation but are lacking in follow-up enforcement. Maybe it’s a lack of manpower issue.”