509 cars abandoned and burnt out in seven months
By Brendan Grehan
IN THE first seven months of 2019, there where over 500 abandoned and burnt out cars reported to the Council.
At last week’s monthly council meeting Cllr Yvonne Collins put down a question asking the Chief Executive “for a report on abandoned cars by area”.
A burnt out car in Killinarden Park
The Council stated in their reply that vehicles that are abandoned are managed by the Council’s Litter Warden service under Section 71 of the Waste Management Act 1996 as amended, which provides for the investigation of the vehicle report, ownership checks and enquiries, communication with the owners and taking ownership and removal of abandoned vehicles.
The Council added that in the case of burnt out vehicles, “contact is made with An Garda Síochána to establish if the vehicles are ‘of interest’ or require a Garda investigation”.
As the Litter Warden Service is not aligned to electoral areas, the Council said it is not possible to provide a figure for the number of burnt out/abandoned cars on a electoral area basis.
The Council said that between January and July 2019, there were 436 abandoned vehicles and 73 burnt out vehicles reported.
Of the abandoned vehicles, 21 were removed by the Council’s contractor, 215 were removed by the owner or persons unknown, 66 were parking issues, 78 were not abandoned, nine were garda matters and 47 remain open cases.
In respect of the 73 burnt out vehicles, 54 were removed by the council and 19 were removed by the owner or persons unknown.
