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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 21 November 2008

Pat Manning: ‘Our front gardens were beginning to look like dumps’

Bins protester dumps refuse with town hall

‘I have looked after this for a fortnight, it’s your turn now’, says note on bag

A RETIRED property manager dumped her rubbish at Islington town hall this week in protest at the failure to empty bins for a fortnight.
On Monday, Pat Manning grabbed a large black plastic bag filled with rubbish from her home in Camden Road, Holloway, opposite City and Islington College, and took the 20-minute bus ride to the town hall in Upper Street.
There she demanded a meeting with Lib Dem council leader Councillor James Kempton but he was unavailable so Ms Manning left the bag at reception with a note reading: “To Cllr J Kempton. I have looked after this for a fortnight, it is your turn now.”
The next day, Mrs Manning’s rubbish and recycling boxes – and those of her neighbours – were emptied by the council’s refuse department.
Mrs Manning said: “We’ve got roadworks outside our house and the dustmen were using that as an excuse not to empty our bins.
“They claimed they couldn’t reach our houses. I thought that was rubbish so I rang the council.
“In fact, I rang the council every day for a week and still they wouldn’t empty our bins. Meanwhile, there were piles of rubbish bags forming in our front gardens, which were beginning to look like a dump.
“So I decided that was it and I’d take a bag of rubbish and dump it at the town hall. It seems to have done the trick.”
Mrs Manning said she decided on her action only as a last resort. “I made sure the rubbish wasn’t too smelly when I took it on a bus,” she added.
“But somebody very kindly gave me their seat.”
She added: “The man at the town hall reception was courteous and polite albeit a bit bemused. But he couldn’t find anyone willing to talk to me. That’s when I decided I would leave the bag for Mr Kempton.”
Lib Dem environment chief Councillor Greg Foxsmith said: “I want to apologise to Ms Manning and any other resident who suffered a missed collection last week.
“Gas main works mean safe access for our vehicles and workers is severely restricted along this bus route.
“But we are taking action, not making excuses. We cleared the rubbish on Tuesday and have spoken to Ms Manning to assure her this is a very unusual situation.
“We were as disappointed as she was to learn what happened.”

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