Councillor hits out at ‘small-minded individuals’ after public bins dumped in Peterborough lake

The bins were thrown into the lake at Cuckoo’s Hollow nature reserve in Werrington, close to the seating area. Both were cemented on to a concrete slab before being removed and thrown into the lake.

Residents reported the problem on Wednesday morning (March 4) and they were retrieved the same morning by ward councillor Cllr John Fox with the help of a passer-by.

The bins had been removed from the Werrington and Gunthorpe side of the reserve but have now both been taken away and Cllr Fox has asked for Aragon Direct Services to replace them as soon as possible.

Cllr Fox said: “Both bins were locked and forced from the ground, as the concrete base was still attached. I have asked Aragon to consider a much deeper base to make it even more difficult.

“The bins have been removed with the help of a very nice community-minded gent who was much stronger than I and slightly younger. Sandra Bond (Ward Councillor for Gunthorpe) also turned up and helped me to sort things out with the help of her trusty boat hook.

“Thanks for all of the offers of help as it is very much appreciated and shows exactly what the community thinks of our wonderful Cuckoo’s Hollow. There is no excuse whatsoever to justify this sort of behaviour and you have to ask yourself what sort of perverted pleasure do they get from doing it? In my opinion they are small minded individuals who are just out to destroy what many hard working volunteers do to try to make the community a better place.

“I get so fed up of hearing excuses for this sort of behaviour, there are none. These are not young children doing this, it is teenagers or even older as they would need some strength to move these. I feel for all those who get so much enjoyment out of Cuckoo’s Hollow and these people want to try to spoil it, they will not succeed as the community will not let them.”