A key factor behind more cars being abandoned is that no longer will metal recyclers or vehicle dismantles automatically pay about 20-25 for the vehicle. This is because up-front recycling costs need to pay for the removal of tyres and for fluid disposal while the price for light iron has fallen to 5-10 per tonne.
Carmarthenshire is running a scheme with the police to better organise the removal of the vehicles and is also carrying out education work in schools to tell youngsters the dangers of joyriding and abandoning cars.
A partnership to deal with the removal of abandoned vehicles has been formed between Carmarthenshire and Dyfed Powys Police.
The council says that the number of abandoned motor vehicles is a growing problem in Carmarthenshire with the council and the Police Authority receiving 63 calls each month from members of the public reporting abandoned vehicles – last year a total of 677 abandoned vehicles were dealt with.
Each one of these calls has to be acted upon and often involves officers from both Authorities visiting the reported location in order to place a notice on the abandoned vehicle. This notice informs the owner of the vehicle that if it is not removed within seven days it will be removed by Carmarthenshire County Council.
Following this, the council then have to send an officer back to the vehicle to confirm whether it is still at its location after seven days, before notifying a contractor to remove the vehicle.
The council has now agreed a protocol for the removal of abandoned vehicles speedily and effectively by further developing the existing partnership between both Authorities. This will see a police officer or traffic warden dispatched to the location of the abandoned vehicle once it has been reported. They will inspect
the vehicle and make some general enquiries. If the current owner can not be identified, a notice will be put upon the vehicle. Any vehicle that hasn’t been removed by the owner within seven days of serving the notice will be removed by Carmarthenshire County Council, or its agents, within five days of issuing the order of removal.
Carmarthenshire County Council will only visit the location of the abandoned vehicle ten days after the date that a notice is affixed to the vehicle. The only exception to this will be if the vehicle is of a significant danger to the public. In such cases, the vehicle will be removed within 24 hours from the time they are notified.
Cllr Pam Palmer of the environment committee said: “I welcome the partnership initiative between ourselves and the Police Authority as it will provide a much more efficient use of manpower and avoid duplication of visits and form filling. This can only have a beneficial effect upon the service.”
Also under consideration is the recommendation of an amnesty period for the acceptance of abandoned vehicles. If approved, this will mean that those who wish to get rid of scrap vehicles can bring their vehicles to the County Council free of charge, instead of abandoning them. Hopefully, this will reduce the number of abandoned vehicles that Carmarthenshire and Dyfed Powys Police deal with.
Mike Roberts, environmental services officer, explained to letsrecycle that an agreement is being drawn up so that the vehicles will be stored at a landfill site run by Cwm Environmental until they can be classed as abandon. “The contractor will either dismantle parts of the vehicle for re-use or send them to a shredder for recycling.”
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