Warning to ‘well-meaning’ Sutton fly-tippers after abandoned coffee table is destroyed on park

Councillor David Hennigan, Ashfield Independents member for Central and New Cross, has called on residents who fly-tip “by accident” to think again after the abandoned coffee table was vandalised - causing glass to spread across Sutton Lawn.

The table, which was dumped with a sign saying “free to collect”, was left at the Garden Lane entrance and caused it to be “too dangerous for park users and pets”.

Coun Hennigan supported the clean-up of the glass on Sunday July 14, and now he is calling on members of the public to be “sensible about dumping things like this”.

He said: “I was called and messaged by a number of residents concerned about the dangerous entrance. It was literally covered in broken glass.

“So I did what any councillor should do and spent an hour cleaning it up myself - there was that much shattered glass. It was so dangerous.

“I know it was well meaning - but you can’t just dump things in our parks. At the end of the day, it’s fly tipping.

“One of the main entrances to our park was impossible to get through. I am afraid the glass coffee table was just too tempting for vandals.

“There are loads of ways the resident could have got rid of their coffee table.

“They could have called the council’s bulky waste hotline, they could have advertised it for free collection on my new Facebook Group ‘Central Sutton and New Cross Problems’ or they could have called a charity who would have been delighted to collect it.

“I don’t mind rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck in, but residents need to think about the consequences of their actions.”