Take part in our Canal Clean-Up – Saturday 18th – 2 PM

Next Saturday (18th April) myself and Simon Herbert (Green candidate in Mulhuddart ward) are taking a break from campaigning to lead a clean up along the Royal Canal as part of National Spring Clean.

We are meeting in two groups – Simon’s group will be meeting at Clonsilla Station and my group will be meeting at Castleknock Train Station. We will be cleaning the area around the two stations, then we will be working along the bank of the Canal and meeting at Coolmine Station.

The clean-up kicks off at 2 PM. Do come and join us. The Royal Canal is a real resource for Dublin 15, but unfortunately it is often littered. Myself and Simon are inviting people from across Dublin 15 to help us give this stretch of the canal a good cleaning

Law needs to be changed so local authorities can deal with abandoned cars

Aftermath of burnt out car, St Mochtas estate, Coolmine

Over the last two years, I have been dealing with the issue of abandoned cars across Dublin 15. I have recently written to the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley TD, to ask him to consider amending the law in order to allow local authorities greater freedom to deal with removing abandoned cars.

Anti-social behaviour in Laverna

'Kissing-gates' at Laverna Way

While I was canvassing door-to-door in Laverna recently a number of residents raised concerns with me about increases in anti-social behaviour and a lack of Garda presence in the area. In particular, the problem of gangs gathering and drinking at the gates between Laevena Way and Bramley Green was highlighted.

Litter in Coolmine Woods must be tackled

Litter at Coolmine Woods

Recently residents in the Coolmine area have highlighted to me their concerns about the large amount of litter in Coolmine Woods and along the laneway linking the Clonsilla Road to the Snugborough Road. I visited the area and there are a large amount of beer cans and bottles, paper and plastic litter lying among the trees and behind the wall beside the bus stop.

The Coolmine Woods are now much more open since the Council cut back much of the undergrowth. While this makes the route safer to travel, it has also revealed the large amount of litter that collects in the area.

I have raised this issue with Fingal County Council and I look forward to them removing the litter in question.

Update on abandoned cars

Over the last year, on a number of occasions I have been asked to deal with cars abandoned within housing estates. Fingal County Council’s website advertises that the Council will remove abandoned cars, subject to certain conditions. However, I’ve recently been contacted by residents in Luttrellstown, Burnell and Woodvale about abandoned cars in their estates and the difficulty they were facing in getting the Council to remove the cars.

In light of this, I asked my Green Party colleagues on the Council to put a question to the County Manager on how the Council deals with abandoned cars.

Currently, section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996 makes it an offence to abandon a vehicle and gives local authorities the power to remove these. In his response the County Manager outlined the expense that the Council incurs in the process of removing abandoned cars and how difficult it is to recoup this expense from the owners. He also pointed out how in two situations, the Council was successfully brought to the courts for destroying vehicles without the owners consent.

One gets the impression both from the response of the County Manager and from the difficulties residents face in getting the Council to act to remove an abandoned car that the current system is not working to its full potential. If this is the case and the legislation needs to be amended in order to make enforcement easier, the County Manager needs to come out and say this.

Further, I think the Fingal CC website needs to be amended to fully set out what the Council has to undertake in order to legally remove an abandoned car. I think this way, the Council could lessen the frustration of residents who often feel that the long time periods that the Council have to take in order to research the owners of these vehicles means that the Council is refusing to act.

Text of response from County Manager

COMHAIRLE CONTAE FHINE GALL
FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL
Council Meeting

MONDAY 8th DECEMBER 2008

ITEM NO.7

Conditions re. removal of Abandoned Vehicles

Question Councillor D. Healy

“To ask the Manager to outline what are the conditions whereby the Council will remove abandoned cars from public places and in particular, to clarify where abandoned cars will only be removed if their tax is out of date and their number plates are missing?”

Reply

The removal of abandoned vehicles is dealt with under Section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996. This Section makes it an offence to abandon a vehicle and empowers a local authority to remove it to storage. The period of storage if ownership details are known is two weeks and if no ownership is known it extends to four weeks. The cost of storage is intended to be recoverable from the owner. Storage of a vehicle for up to 4 weeks could add a cost of approx. €700 per vehicle to the Council’s costs with, in reality, very little chance of recovery.

The Litter Wardens spend a considerable amount of time checking ownership details, contacting owners, using notices affixed to vehicles advising owners that the vehicle is to be removed in an attempt to have the owner remove the vehicle. Legal proceedings against the Council in two cases were successful for removal and destruction of a vehicle without the owners consent.

The Road Traffic Act 1961 / 2004 gives the An Garda Síochána additional powers in relation to the removal of vehicles which are parked dangerously. It is an offence under the Traffic Acts to have a vehicle parked on a public road without tax and insurance. This is a matter for the Gardai to enforce.