 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.)
4 Comments
John
12/5/2016 08:11:47 am
I struggle with this legislation - a family buys a boat and pays the registration on the boat and trailer every year. They park it outside their house, or on a local road where parking is legal. Perhaps it is parked near a couple of box trailers or a couple of advertising trailers. This is now unacceptable and the boat will be impounded. Why boats and not all trailers. What about the family next door that has 3 kids at the wonderful stage of life where they all live at home and have cars - 5 of them:) No space for our car in front of our house now - we are not agitating for laws to stop them parking 5 cars and their box trailer.........seems unfair. Where in the manly council area has an alternative been provided for these boats or are people supposed to just sell them and stop boating?
Michael
12/5/2016 10:18:00 am
I agree with John. I have a boat which is parked out the front of my home. So I now need to move it each month? Based on the Manly Council approach I will now need to move my boat trailer to be in front of the neighbours homes. I see another problem for Manly Council to fix. This new legislation needs to allow me to park my boat trailer in the immediate vicinity of my home.
Candy Bingham
12/5/2016 11:54:48 am
Actually I think it doesn't affect people parking near their homes, it more those in streets such as Kenneth Road and areas where trailers are left for months by people who don't live near by.
L Brigden
12/5/2016 10:33:54 am
I am all for this legislation. Our resident boat owner does not live in our street. He parks the boat in front of our unit block where there is limited parking anyway. He lives around the corner with his off street parking. When he takes his boat out, which is perhaps once or twice a year, he moves his second car into the "boat" spot, so therefore "saving" this spot for when he returns to then only leave the boat again for months on end. Many boat owners do not leave the boat outside their property. It's normally parked close to the water or down a side street for someone else to look at. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCandy Bingham, Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council posts what's making news and issues relevant to Manly on this blog. Categories
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