Cars, fly-tipping or graffiti

If you have noticed a vehicle that you believe to be abandoned, start by speaking to your neighbours to see if they know who owns the car.

If you have made enquiries and no-one knows, make a note of the registration number and make of the car.

• If the vehicle is in one of our car parks, please complete our Contact Us form and attach a photo if possible. Once we receive your report, we will make contact with the DVLA to see if there is a registered keeper. If there is, we will make contact with them.
• If not, we will make arrangements to get the vehicle removed. This process can take up to 10 weeks.
• If the vehicle is on a public road, please contact the local authority
• If you believe the vehicle is stolen, please contact the Police on 101 who will attend and recover the vehicle if it is stolen.

We define fly-tipping as: 

• The unlawful dumping of liquid or solid waste on land or in water.
• Mismanagement or misuse of waste facilities.
• Deposit of bulky items such as old furniture e.g. bed frames and sofas. (You can find out if your estate cleaning contract covers the removal of bulky items by contacting your property manager or taking a look at the cleaning information in your block).

If the item is on land owned by the local authority then it can be reported to them to arrange removal. 

To help us remove bulky items, please complete our Contact Us form, including a photo if you notice waste left on our land. Once we receive your report, we will arrange to have the items removed within four weeks. 

Fly tipping on privately owned land will be the responsibility of the private land owner and not Westward. 

Graffiti is an offence of criminal damage and can be reported to the Police; however they will not remove it.

 Is the graffiti is personally targeted towards you or your family? 

• If yes, please refer to our Verbal abuse / intimidation / harassment section for guidance.
• If no, if the graffiti is on our land, please complete our Contact Us form and attach a photo if possible and we will arrange to get this removed.  

If the graffiti is abusive or racist, we will arrange to remove within one working day, otherwise this may take up to four weeks.

 If the graffiti is not on our land, please contact the Local Authority who will arrange to get it removed.

If your neighbour is parking in a manner which obstructs your ability to enter/leave your home and/or allocated parking space, start by speaking to them first, they may not be aware their actions are causing you a problem. 

If the problem continues then you can take the following action:

• If it  is on a public verge or highway and the vehicle is found to be parked contravening local parking regulations contact your Local Authority who may be able to assist by issuing a Penalty Charge Notice. 
• If it  is parked in such a manner where it needs to be removed immediately, please contact the Police who will arrange this if deemed necessary.  
• If it is on land owned by Westward, complete our Contact Us form and we will make contact with your neighbour. It may be that your neighbour/their visitors are not aware of the local parking arrangements.

This refers to the offence of repairing vehicles in the street is aimed at those carrying out repairs as part of running a vehicle repair business and not individuals repairing their own cars/bikes. 

If you are being disturbed by a neighbour carrying out repairs, start by speaking to them, they may not be aware they are disturbing you.  If the problem continues and you believe an offence is occurring then you can either:

1. If it is on a public highway, contact the Local Authority who can investigate and consider action under the Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act 2005.
2. If it is on land owned by Westward and they are causing a persistent noise nuisance, please refer to our noise nuisance section for guidance.

If you believe that a Road Traffic Offence has been committed, such as speeding or dangerous driver, you should report the incident and circumstances as soon as possible to your local Police.

Some local authorities can install traffic calming measures to improve road safety.  These may include road humps, chicanes, traffic islands etc. The Local Authority will decide whether a road needs traffic calming and, if so, which measures are most suitable. The specific traffic problem will dictate the location, type and size of traffic calming measures. These are usually chosen after discussion with road safety officers, local residents and the emergency services, they may conduct an independent study to assess the problem.