Travellers pay councillor for rubbish tidy-up in Bettws, Newport

From the South Wales Argus

TRAVELLERS paid £200 for their illegal camp in Newport to be cleaned up.

The group, who moved 12 caravans near Morgan’s Pond, Bettws Lane, nearly two weeks ago, gave the money to Cllr Noel Trigg, who kick-started a tidy-up of the site.

He said The travellers upset members of Newport Angling Association because they had nowhere to park.

The Travellers went on their way to Ireland on Saturday, Cllr Trigg was given the money and was told the Pride in Newport team would be on their way to clear the rubbish.

However, after it had been tidied into a pile on Friday, the councillor discovered it had been kicked all over the place by an unknown offender.

On Monday the team returned to clean it up once again, funded by £80 from the Travellers’ money.

“I thought it was absolutely fabulous. They said to me, ‘you have helped us so much’. I said we didn’t want the money but they insisted,” said Cllr Trigg.

The rest of the money was handed to St David’s Church to help provide around 50 Christmas parcels for the needy, in partnership with the Raven House Trust.

Reverend Canon Henry Davies said the money was gratefully received.

“We are going to be able to give out some extras now, like some nice biscuits, thanks to their generosity,” he added.

A spokeswoman from Newport City Council said the Travellers have now moved on and members of the Streetscene department visited the site on Friday and yesterday to clear the rubbish. The local ward councillor had received a contribution from the Travellers towards his community fund and this was used to offset the costs.