visit from the council concerning abandoned vehicle in drive

[kelvin2008]

Had a visit from an enforcement officer concerning a SORNed car in the front drive, wasnt in at the time but was left a card through the letter box, what can they do? should I chain it to the house? will a hiab turn up and try to take it away without my permission? its a privately owned house and its declared sorned off road etc, heard its one of the neighbours complaining.

[trigger]

Fredtransit would be the best one to ask, I'm sure the same thing has happened to her.I can't see how they can have any right to move it if it's on your property and is legal, What is it, A lorry?.

[VWPowered]

Fredtransit - her.

really nahh

[VWPowered]

Had a visit from an enforcement officer concerning a SORNed car in the front drive, wasnt in at the time but was left a card through the letter box, what can they do? should I chain it to the house? will a hiab turn up and try to take it away without my permission? its a privately owned house and its declared sorned off road etc, heard its one of the neighbours complaining.

if its sorn and on private property i'm sure they cant legally touch it however pikeys with hiab's may not be as forgiving..

[Rusty Pelican]

I think if its deamed unsightly they can do what they want , put a tarp over it ,I could be wrong though

[Tonka]

Been there myself after the local authority investigated "alledged" unauthorised vehicle storage (I have a d*ckhead neighbour too) after challenging them because 4 are always T&T they replied saying they had no control over vehicles owned/worked on as part of a hobby or in connection with an owner's club and left it at that!

[Mr H Sceptre]

Been there myself after the local authority investigated "alledged" unauthorised vehicle storage (I have a d*ckhead neighbour too) after challenging them because 4 are always T&T they replied saying they had no control over vehicles owned/worked on as part of a hobby or in connection with an owner's club and left it at that!

So if you SORN your vehicle & store it on your drive, does it still have to be T&T?? Surely not? Excuse my ignorance here.

[vicsmith]

Would have thought you`d be in the clear, however, to avoid a situation could you not move it out of sight? Yeah you shouldn`t have to, neighbours shouldn`t be so pathetic, but they often are, and what goes around etc.

[retro80sboy]

the problems of having shit neighbours.Im lucky as mine both sides are ok - I dont take the piss though and have cars outside there houses or anything, but ive got the Capri, the 'scrappage save' Maestro and Escy van on my drive and the XR3 on the road as thats the car I use the most. Ideally though in the new year I need to shift the Maestro on so I can get the XR3 back on the drive.

[AnthonyG]

Not being funny, but it seems to depend on what the car looks like - if its covered in moss, flat tires, bits hanging off etc they might be able to say its unsightly or some sort of environmental hazard, but if its washed now and then and the tyres are pumped up (i.e. it looks like a going concern) then I can't see how they can do anything. Glad I live in the country, tbh.

[Mr Lobster]

^ WHS.If the car looks reasonably presentable then most people will have no problem with it. If it looks like it's been abandoned for the last ten years then you'll be far more likely to get complaints from the neighbours.

[MrRegieRitmo]

if its covered in moss, flat tires, bits hanging off etc they might be able to say its unsightly or some sort of environmental hazard,

but isn't that how we like them??

[VWPowered]

i'd love the scirocco to get a green mossy patina

[FredTransit]

Yeah been there done it. Only this week had the bloke round (luckily he's OK, he had a 1600E written off by a drunk driver so he said when we had out last chat). He said actually there's nothing they can do cos the vehicles (SORN'd) are on private property.

[wilko]

A case made it to court a couple of years back with a council VS bloke keeping a few old vehicles SORN on private land, somewhere in the south west I think it was - the council lost.I can't pretend to know a lot about it, but isn't civil law partly defined by legal precedent? If so, I'll try to dig out the article as it could be useful to cite this case in a reply to the council for anybody getting these visits?

[FredTransit]

A case made it to court a couple of years back with a council VS bloke keeping a few old vehicles SORN on private land, somewhere in the south west I think it was - the council lost.I can't pretend to know a lot about it, but isn't civil law partly defined by legal precedent? If so, I'll try to dig out the article as it could be useful to cite this case in a reply to the council for anybody getting these visits?

Council VS? What's that? Could be important, so worth digging the article out please! We need to share info about this kind of thing. Don't let the b'stards grind you down!

[wilko]

Here's one example:

 

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Cleared-scrap-dealer-sold-business/article-258847-detail/article.html

 

The key question seems to be whether the car is "waste" or not, as you would need various licenses to posses it if it was.

 

If you say you are restoring it as it is a collectible car, and bought it as such, it appears the council will not have a leg to stand on?

[FredTransit]

TOTNES scrap car dealer Adrian Broadway claims to have sold his business after he was taken to court on charges of illegally keeping scrap vehicles.Mr Broadway told the court, as of 5pm yesterday, he had sold Broadway Disposals, as a result of the court case.He said his mother had become stressed at the attention of South Hams officials investigating the case."She has asked to get out of the car business. Broadway Disposals has been sold from 5pm Friday," he explained.He said the company will continue but he will not be in charge."It is a sad day but the family comes first," he added.Mr Broadway was yesterday cleared of 13 charges of illegally keeping vehicles at his property in Shute Road.

I am confused. This bloke seems to have been running an official business.

[wilko]

I don't think his business is relavent - the council took him rather than his business to court? The case (to me) appears to be a simple one - can this man keep privately owned vehicles that are not roadworthy on private land, or can the council categorise them as "waste" and force him, in the absence of the relavent licenses for storing waste, to dispose of them? The answer would appear to be, no they can't. Therefore, isn't this case relavent to all of us who like to keep unroadworthy vehicles on private land, regardless of whether this is for future restoration, banger racing, as part of a collection etc... etc...?

[AnthonyG]

I don't think his business is relavent - the council took him rather than his business to court? The case (to me) appears to be a simple one - can this man keep privately owned vehicles that are not roadworthy on private land, or can the council categorise them as "waste" and force him, in the absence of the relavent licenses for storing waste, to dispose of them? The answer would appear to be, no they can't. Therefore, isn't this case relavent to all of us who like to keep unroadworthy vehicles on private land, regardless of whether this is for future restoration, banger racing, as part of a collection etc... etc...?

It might be relevant, in that, due to the nature of his business, the council had cause to believe he was breaking up and/or storing scrap cars (which are legally hazardous waste once a COD has been issued) on residental property.Once he had broken the link to his business, the case was thrown out.

[FredTransit]

That's what I was thinking, if he has a business scrapping cars, it's asking for trouble. You can see where the council were going on that one. The outcome is of relevance to us all though, as AnthonyG said, once the link to the business was broken there was nothing they could do. I think all attempts on restricting out hobby is always a bully tactic.

[Mr Lobster]

From reading that case I'm suspecting that the council thought there may be a link between the cars he kept at home and his business and that he was trading from home for which it is possible that he could be prosecuted.

 

They assumed (incorrectly) that the cars at his home address were ones he was dismantling for his business and therefore should have the neccesary waste licences etc. As he was able to demonstrate they were not for business but for leisure use then the case was dismissed.

 

I thought as long as you are not actually trading from home you are ok - but then what about the case of the guy who collected Trabants who was forced to sell his collection?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derb ... 330722.stm

[FredTransit]

Derbyshire District Peak Authority said the notice had been issued after residents and visitors complained the Trabants were an eyesore, parked 1,310 ft (400m) from a public footpath.

WTF?? A thousand feet from a public footpath. Hardly in clear view is it?

[Father Ted]

Hasnt something like this been discussed before with Mr Bickle and a court case against the council who wanted cars moved off private land?EDIT:http://autoshite.commlm/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6217&start=45Here we go...Many moons ago we got a visit from the council about our caravan parked on the front lawn - apparently its not allowed, but I can have one on a hardstanding (wink wink from council man who was a keen caravaner himself) - One phone call to Holdens later and we had a couple of tonnes of gravel tipped on the lawn.Council man happy - neighbours not.Result!

[Richard]

Council VS? What's that?

Council versus bloke.

[FredTransit]

Yeah sorry I realise that after I wrote it

[FredTransit]

I like it. it's not scrap, it's art...... Get off my gallery.

[Lankytim]

Many moons ago we got a visit from the council about our caravan parked on the front lawn - apparently its not allowed, but I can have one on a hardstanding (wink wink from council man who was a keen caravaner himself) - One phone call to Holdens later and we had a couple of tonnes of gravel tipped on the lawn.Council man happy - neighbours not.Result!

That may have something to do with planning permission stipulations. We have the same things here, No caravans in view of the road, no satellite dishes on the front of the house, e.t.c. Weve got loads of weird rules written into the deeds of the house. Regarding the council and old cars, we had a nice big yard for banger racing down in Birmingham. Perfect location, derelict factory building, no neighbours to complain (It was in a very classy area of Brum) We had loads of old cars lying about. It was pretty much a production line, cars got turned into bangers, smashed up then stripped and weighed in. Great.One day the enviroment agency somehow found out and inspected the site. Apparently any more than 5 unroadworthy cars consitutes a scrapyard and you then need a waste licence. Once they get their teeth into you they dont let go.... The yard got demolished not long after that so we didnt really reach any real conclusion with the council but they were close to taking us to court, wed had several warnings.

[kelvin2008]

Fredtransit would be the best one to ask, I'm sure the same thing has happened to her.I can't see how they can have any right to move it if it's on your property and is legal, What is it, A lorry?.

ford escort xr3 and maybe the 306 diesel on axle stands with one wheel off while im doing the water pump.