Abandoned car eyesore

Ratepayers footing bill for scourge after police end tow-outs

ABANDONED cars are increasingly becoming an eyesore in Townsville as the council struggles to clean up an issue inadvertently left to them after police stopped towing vehicles.

Ratepayers are being slugged tens of thousands of dollars each year for the Townsville City Council to remove dumped vehicles, and with 16 cars removed in the last six weeks alone, the bill is expected to rise. The council’s waste and water committee chair councillor Russ Cook said the numbers of cars picked up since July was “too high”.

“This number doesn’t include any cars still registered and left on the side of the road,” he said. “During the last financial year the number of cars picked up by council reached 189, which is massive, and it’s looking like we’re on a similar trend for this financial year.”

Sources have told the Townsville Bulletin that the surge in the number of abandoned vehicles having to be picked up by the council had been caused by a police directive in March to “immobilise” cars by removing licence plates instead of towing vehicles.

Queensland Police confirmed officers in Townsville had been “encouraged” earlier this year to remove licence plates to immobilise vehicles involved in hooning offences after the QPS towing contract terminated.

A QPS spokesman said licence plates had been removed from 178 vehicles by Townsville district police since the directive came in place on March 21.

“Of this total, 33 vehicles were liable to impoundment for forfeiture; however, instead these were immobilised for 90 days due to lack of a towing service provider,” he said.

“It should not be assumed that all 33 vehicles were parked immobilised on the side of the road.”

Cr Cook said abandoned cars around the city gave residents and visitors “the wrong look” of Townsville, but the council didn’t have the power to simply tow vehicles. Cars that have had their licence plates removed by police but remain registered can sit on the side of the road for up to 90 days depending on the fine or penalty imposed.

“This means that cars that look abandoned or stolen with missing number plates may actually be registered, and council can’t legally remove them,” Cr Cook said.

“QPS have the power to either impound cars or remove licence plates, and while impounding can be rather expensive there are little to no costs for removing a licence plate as a penalty.

“This is an issue that negatively impacts our community and there needs to be a real effort from the State Government and council to work together to resolve it.”

Ratepayers paid $63,000 in 2018-19 to remove abandoned cars, with the council able to reclaim $33,000 by selling off the cars at auction.

Council staff investigated 800 reports of abandoned vehicles in that year, removing 189. This is up from 164 abandoned cars the year before.