Councillor vows to not use boulder barricade until '˜the last minute'

An Ashfield District councillor has vowed to not remove boulders being used as a barricade to stop travellers and fly tipping until '˜the last minute.'
Coun AndersonCoun Anderson
Coun Anderson

Councillor Lee Anderson, who is the Labour councillor for the Huthwaite and Brierley ward at Ashfield District Council, hired a digger and placed two massive concrete blocks by the entrance at Strawberry Bank, in Huthwaite.

Travellers illegally used Strawberry Bank before Christmas and left behind human waste and rubbish.

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Coun Anderson has been issued with a community protection warning by Ashfield District Council after placing boulders to deter travellers from setting up camp again at the site.

In a post in the Huthwaite and Brierley Community Page Coun Anderson said: “I received a call to advise me I had carried out a fly-tipping offence.

“I have been issued a community protection warning and if I do not remove them I will be fined.

“I will move them at the last minute and residents have pledged money to pay for this.

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“I want to thank all of you for the hundreds of emails, text messages and inbox messages I have had supporting my actions.

“I did my best and thought my actions were in the best interest of residents. #theywillnotsilenceus.”

It has been revealed by Ashfield Independents that fly tipping across the Ashfield District has risen by 39 per cent in the last year.

The figures were released after questioning by Ashfield Independents’ Environment spokesman Coun Helen Ann Smith.

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Coun Smith said: “For far too long, Ashfield District Council have had their head in the sand when it comes to the state of our streets.

“When they shrunk our bins at the minimum cost of £1.4m in 2016, we warned them that this would happen. It’s clear to anybody that there has been a huge increase in fly-tipping.

“I have been a councillor in Ashfield for nearly 11 years and I have never seen our streets look so filthy, it’s like living in a third world country.

“Something needs to be done urgently.

“People don’t expect much from the high Council Tax we all pay but cleaner streets is obvious.”