Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
2 February 2010
17:2139436#1
Information through from DDC
*************************
OPERATION CUBIT TARGETS ABANDONED VEHICLES
IN DOVER DISTRICT
Operation Cubit targeted Dover District from 25-29 January and removed 40 abandoned and untaxed vehicles from the streets of the district.
Operation Cubit is run in partnership across the county by Kent Police, Kent County Council, Kent District Councils (including Dover District Council), Medway Unitary Authority, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, NSL (formerly the National Car Parking Service), and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Launched in 2001, the scheme continues to work across Kent districts and has contributed to a significant fall in the number of abandoned and untaxed vehicles across the county.
Once removed from the streets, abandoned and untaxed vehicles are taken to a compound. Vehicles not claimed within the prescribed period (usually seven days) may be destroyed. Vehicle owners have to pay a minimum of £100 fine, plus a £160 surety fee (refundable on purchase of a tax disc within 14 days) to reclaim their vehicle, as well as a storage fee of £21 per day.
Nadeem Aziz, Chairman of the District of Dover Community Safety Partnership said: "We continue to work closely with all our partners to make sure the district remains a safe place to live, work and visit. Operation Cubit continues to be a great success, removing untaxed and abandoned vehicles from our streets as quickly as possible. Residents have said that untaxed and illegal vehicles are of concern to them, and together partner agencies have removed 40 vehicles over the last week."
To report an abandoned vehicle in Dover District please call 01304 872428 or visit
www.dover.gov.uk
- ends -
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
2 February 2010
17:2739438#2
I cant think of anything worse than having an abandoned vehicle in your street...well okay I suppose I can think of worse things, but you get my drift. The vehicles deteriorate day by day til the place looks like a 'no-go' area and we've all seen a few 'no-go' areas in our time. The simple act of leaving the rusting things there on full view is that it certainly damages house prices and so on and destroys the feeling of general well being.
The initative above is probably part of a government scheme, or thats where the money is coming from I suspect, so well done all round. Anything that improves the quality of life is appreciated Im sure.
2 February 2010
19:0639460#3
Excellent news.
Meanwhile in the elysian fields of Deal I note that the two properties (Bede house and the one next door) on College Road, previously old persons homes and council owned, now deserted, have had their non boarded windows smashed in by catapult.
Since them we have had the same happen to a so called Charity shop in the town centre and now the Conservative Association offices on the Strand.
I remember a paper called Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in our Neighbourhoods (1996 Kelling + Coles).
Surely this is something that Fort Whitfield + KCC should also be tackling.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
2 February 2010
19:2839464#4
sounds to me that deal is now a walk on the wild side bob.
before you know it amusement arcades, tattoo parlours, kebab shops even pound shops will despoil the coastal paradise that you currently enjoy.
the end product can only be that you will be staying up every night fighting off the social classes 4 and 5 that will be looking to commandeer your house for use a a crack factory.
best to look on the bright side though.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
2 February 2010
19:3939467#5
All down the decades, windows have been a target for smashing, or bottles smashed. Surely, after all the experience of the past, property owners would prevent the crime by taking away the target. Is anyone really surprised the windows are smashed on a deserted property? The whole idea of boarding windows up, apart from keeping trespasser`s out, is surely to prevent broken windows. Sorry, good work with the abandoned cars PaulB.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
2 February 2010
19:5639470#6
Ha Ha Howard. I now note that there is an application before DDC (DOV/09/01082) for ANOTHER tattoo parlour in Deal, and to add insult to injury, this is in the same road as Frost Villas.
One would have thought that there is only a finite amount of skin to doodle on in Deal, but having been forced to the Post Office in Queen Street the other day to buy stamps, and queuing up behind a hoard of various claimants wishing to get my taxed money, it would appear that their bodies are expanding at a rate that a complete facsimile of the Bayeux Tapestry will not remain unrealistic.
In the mean time the poor seem to stick with listing their offspring by name and date of birth, presumably to help them when filling in various forms ...............
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,709
2 February 2010
19:5639471#7
Indeed Bob, nothing signals urban decrepitude and a lack of care moe than broken windows; it really is the start of the rot.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
2 February 2010
20:1739472#8
i can see your dilemna here bob, i can only say that once the rot has set in, it is unstoppable.
the best you can do is mingle in so that you do not get noticed.
firstly your attire should consist of mainly "snide" sportswear, with trainers in prison white, a hooded top, ideally with a check baseball cap under the hood itself.
secondly you will need to acquire a lady friend with a mouth like an open sewer and an ability to flick her cigarette ash all over the offspring.
thirdly, you will need what is known as a "staff", leave that to me, i know a bloke who will get you one cheap with a pedigree certificate from the kennel club(belize branch).
hope that puts your mind at rest.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
2 February 2010
21:3439478#9
I think after that speech Howard, we may see the surgeries in Deal filled to capacity tomorrow for treatment of depression.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
2 February 2010
22:3939481#10
Don't forget the obligatory NHS crutch that can be shared around the family as they claim days off school, days off work, sicknessand incapacity benefits. It's amazing how much value can be gained from acquiring this piece of equipment.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
2 February 2010
22:5739488#11
time for an appeal maybe?
1o pence would buy a biro to complete a claim form.
90 pence would supply a welcoming can of special brew for the needy.
for those of a generous disposition, a pound would sort out a bag of chips for those suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
sid
that comment about the crutch is so cynical, a simple sneeze and a mention of a recent holiday in mexico does the trick nowadays.
3 February 2010
10:4439510#12
Howard, I thought a canoe was required these days for entry into Mexico, or was that Panama?
Guest 693- Registered: 12 Nov 2009
- Posts: 1,266
3 February 2010
16:4939521#13
About time this happened in Dover. The number of untaxed cars I've seen in the district is quite staggering; there are those who say that many of these belong to migrant Eastern European workers, and that the same cars are uninsured as well. I've heard stories of Police letting culprits caught previously being let off without even a caution because of the amount of paperwork involved in prosecuting them. I hope these stories are without foundation, but I wouldn't be surprised in they were true; in the meantime let us hope that the majority of the cars seized during this operation have been crushed......
The only shame in all this is that Operation Cubit only lasted five days. I wouldn't mind a sizeable bet that the numbers seized was only the top of a very large iceberg. I had to smile quietly to myself when I heard a lady (and I use the term 'lady' loosely) of the chav demeanour yelling at the tow truck and copper removing an untaxed car from outside Morrisons to "Leave her effin' (sic) mate's car alone: she ain't done nuffin." To which the elderly chap leaving the store said "I suppose that includes taxing the car." Aside from the volley of abuse levelled at him asking him to mind his own business, she also said that her mate couldn't be arsed to wait in the queue at the Post Office to tax her car. I hope said car is now a small cube of metal.
True friends stab you in the front.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
3 February 2010
17:1839531#14
i love that comment from the old chap.
not sure that there would be many cars of east europeans towed away, most keep their one from home that doesn't need taxing and ensures that car parking fees do not apply.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
3 February 2010
18:3939542#15
The elderly chap should be mentioned in dispatches, a great reply to a brainless abusive tirade - Respect
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
3 February 2010
19:4039552#16
You are still as cynical as ever Sid. I hope that you never need to use a crutch. I have had to use one for the last four months due to a bad bout of sciatica and having to have a new hip soon. I can assure you it is no joke. I struggle to get into the library and have to use the disabled walkway as I cannot mount the steps.
It is a good job that I live in a bungalow.
3 February 2010
20:0139553#17
Andy
You have hit on a item that I have raised with the police to no avail. That is the foreign vehicles that are here not as "tourists" but having been in regular locations for some two plus years and are obviously working here (or illegal working and maybe even benefiting from social handouts etc) and possibly not contributing anything to this country.
I have regular contact with "tourists" in cars and so often when welcoming occupants of foreign registered vehicles to this country and seeking that they are on holiday only to be informed "we live and work here".
The details of vehicles have been given to our PCSO by more than one resident as well as being raised with an Inspector at Dover Police Station and no feed back or action, these are not just Eastern Block countries but French/Belgian and German.
I had a period of having to visit France a couple of times per week and where I parked my car near my hotel after three or so weeks I had a notice on the windscreen to contact the police as I was considered as "working in France" and my vehicle should be relicenced in France
What is of concern is that I doubt if these vehicles have insurance and of course what loss (nationally) to the exchequer. One such Polish registered vehicle even had a DHB "SD" sticker on it and now has a "Canterbury University Car Park" sticker on it.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
3 February 2010
20:1739555#18
i can assure everybody that if they ring the vehicle tax hotline, and mention a foreign registered car they will not take anymore details.
the questions of residence, visiting or working do not come into play.
3 February 2010
21:4239567#19
Alec, I have used a crutch and so have my wife and daughter in the last 25+ years or so. I appreciate it is difficult to get around and a relief if lucky enough to be fit again and not need the assistance of one.
However, just looking around when at home, both in Dover and Canterbury, it is amazing how frequently one sees the chav type with an NHS crutch. When I was young it was only sports people or old people who were seen with them, now whole families seem to enjoy the facility.
So, cynical, maybe. Walking around with my eyes open, definitely.