Act Repealed Latest version as at 14 December 1992 (as enacted) | 1992 No 113

Local Government Amendment Act (No 3) 1992

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Removal of abandoned vehicles from roads

Local Government Amendment Act (No 3) 1992

Public Act		1992 No 113
Date of assent		14 December 1992

	Title
1	Short Title and commencement
2	Removal of abandoned vehicles from roads
	Administrative information

An Act to amend the Local Government Act 1974

BE IT ENACTED by the Parliament of New Zealand as follows:

1 Short Title and commencement

(1)

This Act may be cited as the Local Government Amendment Act (No. 3) 1992, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Local Government Act 1974 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

(2)

This Act shall come into force on the 1st day of April 1993.

2 Removal of abandoned vehicles from roads

(1)

The principal Act is hereby amended by repealing section 356, and substituting the following section:

“356

“(1)

This section applies where any category A or category B or category C motor vehicle is found on a road within the district of any council and appears to have been abandoned by its owner.

“(2)

In the case of a category A or category B vehicle, the following provisions shall apply:

“(a)

The council may authorise any person to remove the vehicle and store it:

“(b)

No person authorised by the council shall remove the vehicle until a member of the Police has been notified of the proposal to move it:

“(c)

The council shall make reasonable efforts to give notice to the last registered owner of the vehicle of its intention to sell the vehicle, and those efforts shall include,—

“(i)

In the case of a category A vehicle, taking practical steps to identify the owner of the vehicle by reference to chassis numbers or other numbers appearing on the vehicle:

“(ii)

In the case of a category B vehicle, identifying the owner of the vehicle by reference to such numbers and by searching the motor vehicle security register or otherwise:

“(d)

After making reasonable efforts to give notice under paragraph (c) of this subsection, the council may give not less than 10 working days’ notice, by advertisement in 2 issues of a daily newspaper circulating in the district in which the road is situated, of its intention to sell the vehicle, but if the council is satisfied that the condition of the vehicle is such that it is of little or no value, it may dispense with the giving of such notice:

“(e)

At any time after the expiration of a notice given in accordance with paragraph (d) of this subsection or at any time after the giving of such notice has been dispensed with under that paragraph, the council may sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle to any person or otherwise dispose of the vehicle in such manner as the council thinks fit, and any person to whom such a vehicle is sold or disposed of shall thereupon become the lawful owner of the vehicle:

“(f)

The advertisement under paragraph (d) of this subsection shall specify the following:

“(i)

A description of the make, model, and colour of the vehicle:

“(ii)

The chassis numbers and any other vehicle numbers (if known):

“(iii)

The location from which the vehicle was removed:

“(g)

The proceeds of any such sale shall be applied in payment of the costs and charges attending the sale, including the advertisement under paragraph (d) of this subsection, and of the expenses of the removal and storage of the motor vehicle, and the residue, if any, shall be payable to the former owner of the vehicle:

“(h)

Where any motor vehicle is removed by the council under this subsection, the owner shall be liable to pay to the council all expenses incurred by the council in removing and storing the vehicle, and, where the vehicle is claimed by the owner and not sold or otherwise disposed of pursuant to this subsection, those expenses shall be payable before the owner takes delivery of the vehicle.

“(3)

In the case of a category C vehicle, the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall apply with the following modifications:

“(a)

The notice specified in paragraph (d) of that subsection shall not be given unless the vehicle has been stored for a period of 1 month and reasonable efforts to locate the last registered owner have been made by the council:

“(b)

In addition to specifying the matters set out in paragraph (f) of that subsection, the notice shall specify the name of the current registered owner and the last known address of that person:

“(c)

Paragraph (c) of that subsection shall apply as if the vehicle were a category B vehicle.

“(4)

If, after a search of the motor vehicle security register in accordance with subsection (2)(c)(ii) or subsection (3)(c) of this section, it is found that the vehicle is subject to a registered security interest, the council shall, before selling or otherwise disposing of the vehicle, notify the holder of that interest of its intention to sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle.

“(5)

For the purposes of this section,—

“(a)

A category A vehicle is a motor vehicle that has neither a number plate nor a current licence label affixed to the vehicle:

“(b)

A category B vehicle is a motor vehicle that has affixed to it either a number plate or a current licence label (but not both):

“(c)

A category C vehicle is a motor vehicle that has affixed to it either—

“(i)

A number plate and a current licence label; or

“(ii)

A number plate and a licence label that expired not more than 6 months before the council took possession of the vehicle.

“(6)

For the purposes of this section, ‘council’, in relation to a State highway that is under the control of Transit New Zealand, means Transit New Zealand.

“(7)

Nothing in this section limits or affects anything in section 239 of the Public Works Act 1981.”

(2)

Section 36 of the Local Government Amendment Act 1992 is hereby consequentially repealed.

This Act is administered in the Department of Internal Affairs.

Local Government Amendment Act (No 3) 1992