MATTRESS DUMPED ON COUNCIL

By Elaine Squire - Friday, May 9, 2008

Lisa May got so fed up waiting for the IW Council to collect an abandoned mattress she found in the road, she dumped it on the steps of County Hall. Picture by CHRIS THWAITES.

TIRED of waiting for the IW Council to collect an abandoned mattress, a woman from Newport took matters into her own hands by dumping it on the steps of County Hall.
After the mattress fell off a lorry outside Stylish Windows, in Long Lane on Wednesday last week, office manager Lisa May removed it from the road, put it outside the office and phoned the council to report it.
She claimed the council gave her conflicting information, firstly telling her it could take up to three working days to be collected and then on Tuesday, when it had not been collected, that it may take another five days.
Claiming the mattress was having a negative impact on the business, Mrs May then took it and dumped it on the steps of County Hall.
“What do we pay business rates for if not for this type of thing?
“By dragging the mattress out of the road I thought I was doing the right thing but it sat outside the office for five days, which wasn’t good for business,” said Ms May.
Cabinet member for environment and neighbourhoods, Cllr Tim Hunter-Henderson said an inspector had driven along Long Lane on Thursday, within the normal three-working-day period allowed for inspections, but had assumed the mattress had been taken away because it was not at the side of the road as Ms May had reported.
“The inspector was not aware the mattress was inside Ms May’s land holding and, because of this misunderstanding, it was not removed,” said Cllr Hunter-Henderson.
“While we do understand Ms May’s frustration, dumping waste on public land is illegal and we cannot condone her actions.
“We will not be taking any action against Ms May but we won’t hesitate to take appropriate action against anyone fly-tipping waste.”

MATTRESS DUMPED ON COUNCIL

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