Rein Adamson's cars cleared

[Dick Longbridge]

Anyone spotted this? Looks like Cardiff County Council have screwed up.

The original story:

 

The update (the owner is in hospital currently):

Council approved contractors would remove a Porsche of high value with care on on a transporter, right? 

Let's hope the cars end up returned to the owner undamaged, although that seems unlikely...

[egg]

Council did respond to Jonny, did you see in the trail?

[Dick Longbridge]

30 minutes ago, egg said:

Council did respond to Jonny, did you see in the trail?

Yeah, unless there's been a response since? It didn't address the time scales and the fact a completely inappropriate lift was used to remove the cars though. I'd be flippin' livid if someone rolled up with a 'sauna removals our pleasure' lorry and proceeded to lift my £££ Porker/ whole car collection. 

Somebody somewhere screwed things right up. 

[HMC]

Sadly it’s not a suprise when councils fail to follow their own protols and procedures.

(type whilst sipping a beer and reading the rotten boroughs section of private eye.)

[egg]

1 hour ago, Dick Longbridge said:

unless there's been a response since

Don't think so, but at least they did respond in some way, they asked if Jonny was the persons representative, but owner may not have capacity to make that decision right now I guess.

[egg]

16 minutes ago, HMC said:

(type whilst sipping a beer and reading the rotten boroughs section of private eye.)

When I subbed, was my favourite section.

[sierraman]

What’s the actual back story to this? The council are unlikely to just enter someone’s land and remove something for no reason. 

[RoverFolkUs]

I don't understand these approaches, if it's not affecting the public in any way and it's not an active (illegitimate) breaker yard leeching off waste fluids or something then why can't I just keep a few shit old cars in my back garden out of anyone's way?

[wesacosa]

according to twitter it was something about likely damage by pests and county planning act

Hi Jonny. Notices have previously been served to clear the land under Prevention of Damage by Pests Act and S215 Town & Country Planning Act. Vehicles have not been destroyed. Thank you.

 

[sierraman]

Sounds to me like the property hasn’t been kept in order and there’s been something like Knotweed kick off that’s not been controlled, they’ve had to shift the cars to take action in the end. 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Been better off with a wacky baccy crop round here sanctuary housing & plod aren't interested.

Than a dirty (spit) motoring enthusiast planet murdering scum!

[2flags]

Did anyone actually buy any of these cars or are they still quietly mouldering away in his garden? Has the chap recovered or is the end in sight for him?

 

[Dick Longbridge]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-kept-valuable-classic-cars-26368712.amp

 

[Dave_Q]

Sad story but seems like the council have tried over a number of years to get him to remove the cars and repair the house.

Its a bit poor that the last contact they attempted to make with him was a couple of years ago but it sounds like they are not convinced he even owns the house. It says they have served notices but presumably by attaching them to the house rather than by contacting him?

I'm not sure if the fact he's not been able/wiling to respond to the notices/requests from the council means they've actually done anything wrong and it does sound like the cars are still available to be collected.

You would have thought that if they knew he was the owner (even if disputed or not yet proven) they would send him a letter to his known address a week or few before the final enforcement action was due to take place to give him a final chance to do something with the cars. Maybe they did and he either didn't get it or was in hospital.

No winners really but it's not "evil council steals man's things without warning" as it sounds like it's taken 8 years of attempted legal process to get to this stage.

Your right to property in this country doesn't include the right to keep a falling down terraced house untouched and infested by rats although I'm sure some people think it does.

[EyesWeldedShut]

7 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

No winners really but it's not "evil council steals man's things without warning" as it sounds like it's taken 8 years of attempted legal process to get to this stage.

😲 you mean Wales Online have (again) not allowed the full facts to get in the way of a story? They lift a lot of tales from Twitter (Liverpool Echo is, I think, from the same stable) and will algorithm out Tweets like the one at the start of the thread - especially if you @ or # some authority/council/body in Wales.
Lazy journalism but let's not forget that they're aim  is to  inform, educate and entertain (and sell lots of advertising)

[Dick Longbridge]

25 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Sad story but seems like the council have tried over a number of years to get him to remove the cars and repair the house.

Its a bit poor that the last contact they attempted to make with him was a couple of years ago but it sounds like they are not convinced he even owns the house. It says they have served notices but presumably by attaching them to the house rather than by contacting him?

I'm not sure if the fact he's not been able/wiling to respond to the notices/requests from the council means they've actually done anything wrong and it does sound like the cars are still available to be collected.

You would have thought that if they knew he was the owner (even if disputed or not yet proven) they would send him a letter to his known address a week or few before the final enforcement action was due to take place to give him a final chance to do something with the cars. Maybe they did and he either didn't get it or was in hospital.

No winners really but it's not "evil council steals man's things without warning" as it sounds like it's taken 8 years of attempted legal process to get to this stage.

Your right to property in this country doesn't include the right to keep a falling down terraced house untouched and infested by rats although I'm sure some people think it does.

Sounds like it. The article certainly gives a much more balanced picture. Two sides to every story and all that. It still seems odd to see a 60s Porsche whisked away on the way on the back of a hot tub transporter though.

[lesapandre]

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

😲 you mean Wales Online have (again) not allowed the full facts to get in the way of a story? They lift a lot of tales from Twitter (Liverpool Echo is, I think, from the same stable) and will algorithm out Tweets like the one at the start of the thread - especially if you @ or # some authority/council/body in Wales.
Lazy journalism but let's not forget that they're aim  is to  inform, educate and entertain (and sell lots of advertising)

Unfortunately a lot of local papers/journalism is in crisis - with huge cuts in staff and lowering of quality.

Been going on some time but the result is poor reporting and click-bait.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/07/read-all-about-it-how-local-papers-decline-is-starving-communities-of-news

Seems a very sad story- but time catches up with all of us - and the owner understandably began to let things go.

Often in these cases it's the neighbours agitating the council about what's happening nearby.

A lesson to us all - well me anyway, as I do have cars stored and I am getting old...

[EyesWeldedShut]

8 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

A lesson to us all - well me anyway, as I do have cars stored and I am getting old...

Getting old is still preferable to the alternative 💀 (unless you have a mirror in the attic?)

Same here - difference is that my area is not getting itself 'gentrified' any time soon so piles of stuff around the place do not tend to attract comments/attention.  I guess finding a friendly storage facility may soon get to be the norm for urbanites?
My previous residence happened to be in a village that was running for 'England in Bloom' or some similar competition and you would get a missive from the Parish Council reminding you of that if you allowed your lawn to get over the regulation number one cut. They got a tad peeved at my collection of 100% insured & MOT'd tat not upholding their high standards (this was prior to the online check MoT/tax site) and I chanced upon a copper looking around our little estate. Turns out 'anonymous' complaints about unroadworthy/untaxed/badly parked vehicles (including mine) in the village had been made. He accidentally* left his clipboard open with the letter from the Parish Council uppermost as we swapped 'when we was...' stories over a cuppa.
Moving from that rural idyll* was a blessing  (I hate to think what it is like now with FaceBook digillantes - boggling).

[Dave_Q]

2 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

😲 you mean Wales Online have (again) not allowed the full facts to get in the way of a story? They lift a lot of tales from Twitter (Liverpool Echo is, I think, from the same stable) and will algorithm out Tweets like the one at the start of the thread - especially if you @ or # some authority/council/body in Wales.
Lazy journalism but let's not forget that they're aim  is to  inform, educate and entertain (and sell lots of advertising)

I don't think the Wales online story is that bad as it at least includes the statement from the council.

If you read about it on twitter it's very much one sided and it's stated that notice wasn't served properly or enough time given between the notice and the removal, not that a few extra days would have been likely to make much difference given the owners inability to do anything about it over the last 8 years.

[lesapandre]

These YouTube and Instagram abandoned site and building video-merchants do a lot of harm IMHO. 

I hardly use Instagram but there is some guy in the Welsh Marches photographing 'abandoned' farmhouses and posting them online.

What is it all for I have to ask? Their own gratification, fees or just a sense of entitlement? Having your remote private house put on a public website and named - not great.

I can tell you if anyone photographed my house not from the public road I would seek to get anything taken down.

And megaphone diplomacy using Twitter as in this case did not seem the way to resolve the dispute with the Council. That sort of thing would just get ignored.

Modern life is rubbish.

[EyesWeldedShut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgtKkrT8bKM
There's an old lead mine very near my place that is being used by the guy as some sort of Range Rover graveyard (and it is big). He has a public footpath through the property and has starred* at least six times on YouTube by the likes of the 'urbex' channel in the link above.
Most recent one involved the YouToobers getting into some of the RR and lots of spouting of bollockses 'oohs' 'ahhs' and so on - that one was removed as it showed the location on a map. I don't think he's too bothered about the other videos.
That latest one though aroused some FaceBook flurries that have attracted the attention of the council and Natural Wales (our environmental/water government agency) so I suspect he may be getting a notice.
 

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Getting old is still preferable to the alternative 💀 (unless you have a mirror in the attic?)
 a friendly storage facility may soon get to be the norm for urbanites?

Getting old?  You bet it beats the alternative!

The very moment that "becoming the norm" happens, storage facilities will drop the facade of friendliness and double their rates.  Annually.  It won't just be one, it'll be all of them.  It will happen.

21 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

 

Modern life is rubbish.

Total truth, brother.

[sierraman]

There’s two sides to every story, if his property is starting to cause a nuisance through it being overgrown and rats etc then something has to be done. It’s one thing having a few old cars on the drive, it’s another having the place like the day of the triffids and causing issues for other people due to not keeping your place half tidy.

[AnthonyG]

He’s admitted that he lives somewhere else and that his only actions re the upkeep of the house are to grow a massive hedge/put up a crappy fence using scrap wood to ‘hide’ the cars and general disrepair of the house.

I suspect those cars, excepting perhaps the 1960s Porsches due to their value, won’t be seeing the road again. Not because Cardiff council has ‘stolen’ them, but because they’ve been left in a damp overgrown garden in South Wales for two decades. 

[sierraman]

I feel sorry for the poor bastards living next door to such a shit tip. I’ve no doubt they’re sick to the back teeth of rats and all the trees towering above the place. In all likelihood the Porsche’s will be impounded and then assuming he doesn’t cough up sold off, the rest of it looks like it’ll be compost from sitting in the soil for 20 years. 

[motorpunk]

All this fuss over some shitty old cars, YouTubers getting in a froth because there's some Porsche in there, some poor old bastard is clearly unwell and making unpopular (with the council) choices over his property and junk... what about his health? Look at the state of the poor old stick, he needs some TLC, not his scrap cars. The focus is on the wrong thing. How many others in society are in a similar state?

As much as we love 'em, cars are just rusty metal. 

[dan95x]

I used to live just round the corner from here for quite a long time (albeit my street was a lot crappier than this one) and the gentrification here isnt a recent thing, its been a 'nice' street for a long time now, albeit as Cardiff has gotten 'nicer' as a whole, the pace and scale of that has increased.  The houses on the road are now very much classic upper-middle class, expensive, professional type town house, and his stood out for a long time as being 'different' (I used to run down that street as part of my route, before my knees gave up on running altogether!).  Ironically the area is also quite 'bohemian' but probably only the sort of bohemian that fits in with slightly more gentrified pastimes than having a borderline scrapyard in your garden, especially if he doesnt even live there anymore.  

I pretty much feel sorry for everyone involved - He is clearly unwell and should (within reason) not have his property taken away without having a decent chance to sort it (although it does sound like he may have prevaricated somewhat on previous chances).

His neighbours deserve to not have to look at a shit-tip, regardless of what you may think of gentrification or otherwise, its a VERY residential area, there arent even any drives (they may have back access - a lot of Cardiff has lanes that run behind the gardens, I cant remember off the top of my head), so actually its an area that tends not to attract petrolheads (I loved living in Cardiff, but to live in a lot of it you have to accept not getting a drive or garage).  I am more than guilty of having crap on the drive/in the garden (indeed I currently have 2 Golf gtis in the middle of being stripped on my own, and a couple fo old bits of crap stored on my dads drive) but you have to at least give the neighbours some consideration, or if not, accept that its going to piss them off and they will try and work out ways to get rid of your attractive garden ornaments/their eyesore nightmare, especially when its combined with generally letting the place go to ruin/rats etc.

Its a 'waste' of the cars, but its his right to do what he wants with his own property, and frankly looking at him and the collection, I could be looking at my late-granddad if he hadnt had me and my brother to keep him vaguely in check. 

- We have only just got rid of a derelict property of his that the council wrote to him about because the cast iron gutters were causing a danger to passers by- check 

- Bollock loads of old cars and engines, parts, associated stuff lying around annoying the neighbours - check

- Intends on "sorting them all out when he gets time" probably with a number of them having sentimental value, and he genuinely means it, not taking into account how much of it there is/how old/ill he is - check

- His views on what is reasonable compared to others are perhaps a bit skewed - check

Reading between the lines he hasnt even got anyone in family/friends who shares the interest and can try and help him out with it all - I can really easily see my Granddad ending up in exactly the same position before he died if things were slightly different (if his grandkids hadnt been into cars etc).

I dont really know where I was going with all that - it turned into a bit of a stream of consciousness 😂 As I say, just the whole thing is a bit of a shame for all involved  

 

[sierraman]

Also 90% of the tackle in there will be rotten beyond economic repair. I don’t know about a hi-ab, a dustpan and brush would have sufficed. 

[dan95x]

And if there wasnt enough things in his story that felt close to home, this happens to be one of the bits of 'crap' my own Granddad has left behind I am trying to sort 😂...........

 

Oh and just to add, as I have just re-read my post above - I understand why Cardiff Council will have possibly been forced to act, but I do hope that they have indeed done everything properly, and taken appropriate care with the stuff that they have removed - It might well just be old shite, but it is still Rein Adamsons old shite, and its not on anyone else to damage it etc outside of what they are actually allowed to do by law, even ignoring whether the porsches actually have any value or not

[sierraman]

That’s not unreasonable, it’s not harming nobody, I’d disagree if there were 60ft Connifers growing round it, binliners full of crap, the building falling down and rats all over the show. I think there is the difference.