Gordon Prentice - Pendle's Campaigning Labour MP
| Wrecked cars and visual amenity |
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Tags: Campaign | defamation | eyesores | vehicles
| Written by Gordon Prentice |
| Friday, 18 March 2005 00:00 |
 This is the exchange I had in the Commons with Environment Minister Elliot Morley on Thursday 17 March 2005.Mr. Gordon Prentice (Pendle) (Lab): Is my friend concerned about the fact that I am being threatened by a well-known local lawyer with an action for defamation, as I have drawn public attention to a wreck of a Mercedes that he owns, which is parked on a strip of open private land alongside a busy main road? The lawyer tells me that he is going to restore that wreck, but what about the visual blight of the street scene in the meantime? What can we do about eyesores parked on private land? Mr. Morley: I hope that no one would try to interfere with my hon. Friend's parliamentary right to raise issues in the House, as he is perfectly entitled to do so. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill provides powers for the removal of abandoned vehicles on private land. It is the owner's responsibility to demonstrate clear proposals for restoration, but if the vehicle is causing a nuisance, enhanced powers will be available to local authorities. And here is the related press release: Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, is calling for government action to protect the visual amenity of neighbourhoods from wrecked cars parked in public view on private land. Speaking from Westminster today, the campaigning MP said: “We have a Bill in Parliament which tackles the scourge of abandoned cars. But it doesn’t properly address the problem of unsightly wrecks parked lawfully in public view on private land. I want this issue to be addressed.” Note to Editors: The following Motion will appear on the Order Paper of the House of Commons on Monday 21 March 2005 Unsightly Vehicles and Threats of Defamation That this House applauds the editor of the Nelson Leader, Roy Prenton, for his decision to publish an article on 28 January 2005 drawing attention to the scourge of abandoned cars in Pendle; notes that the story carried a photograph of a Mercedes with the caption: “Dumped: A once luxurious Mercedes is now a disgrace on the streets of Pendle”; futher notes that the owner, Barrowford lawyer, J.P. Croasdale, considers the article defamatory on the grounds that the car is not abandoned but is awaiting restoration and, although he is not named, many people in the village know he is the owner of this wreck of a Mercedes; notes with incredulity that J.P.Croasdale has contacted the Editor and the honourable Member for Pendle citing the Defamation Act 1996 and claiming the article has lowered himself in the estimation of normal right thinking people and has exposed him to hatred, contempt or ridicule and because of the implication of criminal activities could cause him to be shunned or avoided; considers this to be lawyerly bluster that frightens no-one; believes that he should do his restoration in a garage out of public sight and not on a strip of open private land adjoining the major road through Barrowford; further believes that the Government should seek to amend the Clean Neighbourhoods Bill to close this loophole of dangerous, unsightly wrecks being allowed to blight the visual amenity of neighbourhoods while their owners shelter behind the excuse that the vehicle in question is lawfully parked on private land. Gordon Prentice MP |
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 October 2008 17:25 ) |