New legislation will finally enable Councils to impound boat trailers if they have been parked on a residential street without being moved for a period of 28 days or more.
 
Effective from 1 October 2016 the new laws will enable Councils to impound boat trailers if they are parked on a street for more than 28 days without being moved, irrespective of whether the trailer is legally parked and still registered.
 
Previously the trailers could only be ticketed or impounded if they were out of registration, were considered ‘abandoned’ or had exceeded stated timed parking periods.
 
Although the new legislation will still enable boat owners to park in residential streets provided they move their trailer within each 28 day period (at least as far as a different block section on the same street or to a different street), it is a good start.
 
Councils will still need to provide notice of at least 15 days before impounding a trailer and the new powers do not apply to any other type of trailer (ie box trailers, advertising trailers, camping trailers and the like).
 
While in most areas the issue usually only pertains to a small number of streets and individual trailers none-the-less they can generate significant local concern, particularly if the trailer has been parked for months and sometimes years.
 
What do you think of the new legislation?
 
(Source:  Our thanks to SHOROC for this information.)
​