The Act Commentary on Sections Abandoned vehicles Section 11 Notice of removal of vehicles
51.This section amends section 3 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978.
52.Previously under section 3(2) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978, if a vehicle that appeared to be abandoned was found on private land, a notice had to be served on the occupier of the land; if the occupier did not respond, the local authority had to wait 15 days before removing the vehicle. When the vehicle was on a private driveway, there was no practical problem as the occupier was in a position to confirm whether or not it was abandoned. However, if the vehicle was on a private road, it was difficult to identify the occupier; in those circumstances, some form of notice was often left on the vehicle to alert the owner. The notice at times attracted instances of anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and arson.
53.Subsection (2) removes the requirement to serve a notice on the occupier of land where the vehicle is on a ‘road’. The definition of ‘road’ is as described in paragraph 34, and could include roads that pass through housing estates managed by registered social landlords and other local authority housing estates. This enables vehicles to be removed immediately from any road to which the public has access.
54.Section 3(5) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 required a local authority to affix a notice to a vehicle 24 hours prior to removal where it was considered to be in such a condition that it ought to be destroyed. There was no definition of what this meant but it could have included vehicles that had parts missing or were burnt out. The 24-hour notice at times attracted instances of anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and arson.
55.Subsection (3) revokes section 3(5) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978. It enables local authorities to immediately remove any vehicle in such a condition if they think it has been abandoned.