Maitland Council will review and update its information on illegally dumped or abandoned cars after two councillors flagged concerns for the vehicles as fire risks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Liberal councillors Sally Halliday and Mitchell Griffin will table a motion at Tuesday night's meeting, stating the dumped cars were at "greater risk of arson attack and potential for bushfires and damage to local property".
The motion calls on council to introduce a policy regarding abandoned and/or stolen vehicles with an aim to address the concerns around the length of time it is taking to have these vehicles removed from the streets.
"Over recent months Maitland has seen an increase in the number of vehicles left abandoned on local streets," the councillors noted.
"In some circumstances this has taken up to eight weeks to be resolved, often resulting in greater risk of arson attack and potential for bushfires and damage to local property."
However a response from council's planning and environment manager Matthew Prendergast said a abandoned car policy is not required.
"Each report of an abandoned vehicle (registered within Horizon) is dealt with on its merits and the process undertaken has been developed in compliance with the Impounding Act 1993 and relevant caselaw," Mr Prendergast said in the response.
"Given that the process for dealing with abandoned vehicles is legislated by the Impounding Act 1993, the purpose of a council policy for dealing with Abandoned Vehicles is not required.
"However, to provide guidance and more information for residents, Council staff will review and update information on our website."
The matter will be discussed at council's ordinary meeting at 5.30pm on Tuesday at Maitland Town Hall.
In other news:
Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.