Agenda item

            The Director of City and Neighbourhood Services advised the Committee that, as previously requested, he had written to the relevant Department Ministers to outline the action being taken by the Council to try and combat this issue on its lands and to offer the support of officers to work with the Departments’ and other relevant agencies to consider any potential legislative changes necessary. 

            The officer reported that further research had been carried out to establish how off road vehicles were legislated for in other jurisdictions and this had highlighted the range of legislation that existed to deal with the misuse of motorised vehicles as follows:

• all motorised vehicles must be registered in the Republic of Ireland following new legislation implemented earlier in the year;
• the situation in the UK was less straightforward in that road activity was regulated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and there was only a voluntary registration scheme for off road motorised vehicles.  The Minister of Infrastructure had outlined during an Assembly debate on 3rd October 2016 that this needed to be extended to this jurisdiction as it was an excepted matter; and 
• in 2015 the Scottish Parliament held a similar debate and they too had to consider adopting the DVLA voluntary off road registration scheme.

            The Director advised that he had written to the Minister for Infrastructure, outlining the Council’s desire to explore a registration scheme, seeking support to align resources and to provide a practical and purposeful approach over the Christmas period and the longer term as the review of the legal frameworks progressed.

            The Director detailed that in response the Minister had provided the following information:

• the remit of the Department of Infrasturcture only extended to the use of motorised vechicles on public roads. Motorised vechicles used on public roads must comply with all legal requiements including type approval and must meet necessary safety standards as well as having appropriate insurance; 
• they must also be licensed by the DVLA;
• in the case of private roads or land, responsibility lies with the user of the vehicle in question and the land owner;
• at present registration requirements were only attached to motorised vehicles driven on public roads;
• off-road vehicles such as quad bikes and scramblers cannot be driven on public roads and are exempt from vehicle requirements;
• in Britain there had been several attempts to introduce primary leglislation to require all off-road vehicles to be registered, however, these had not come to fruiton; and
• as vehicle registration was an excepted matter, the Department had no powers to introduce similar statutory registration requirements in Northern Ireland.

            The Director stated that the Minister had expressed his concern about off-road vehicles being used on private land and had welcomed the opportunity to meet to discuss the issue.

            The Committee noted the progress in respect of this issue and agreed that the Director of City and Neigbourhood Services and the Chairperson of the Committee would seek a meeting with officials from the Department for Communities in order to try and progress this matter and agreed to keep the Committee informed accordingly.