A vehicle is considered abandoned when it has been left in a public place and its warrant of fitness and registrations labels are not visible, or both have expired by more than 31 days.
If a vehicle is abandoned, Council is permitted under Section 356 of the Local Government Act 1974 to remove it from roads within the district.
Unwanted cars can be sold to auto wreckers, who will usually remove them at no cost.
If you leave a car on public land, we may remove and dispose of it. (This does not apply to cars on private land.)
If the car has been wrecked or stripped, we will remove and dispose of it straight away. If it is safe to do so, we will leave it where it is while we find the owner.
If you are the last registered owner, we will ask you to remove the vehicle within seven days. If you don’t, we may consider it to be abandoned and have it removed.
We would keep the car for at least 10 days. After that, we may sell it and use the money from the sale used to cover any towing and storage costs.
