John Mann joined forces with Independent Councillor, Hugh Burton to campaign against Bassetlaw District Council's proposal to cut the Bulky Refuse Collection, when they presented the results of their consultation exercises on Monday at Retford Town Hall. They sat on an old settee in Retford Market Square to highlight the future fly tipping problems that Bassetlaw will face should this service be withdrawn.

Bassetlaw District Council are proposing to cut the bulky collection service provided to many of Bassetlaw's villages without running a full and open consultation on the issue and this led John Mann to run his own consultation with local residents to ensure that they were aware of the plan and to enable them to have their say.

Every household in the villages of North Leverton, Sturton-le-Steeple, Bole, South Wheatley, North Wheatley, Littleborough, West Stockwith, Misterton, Walkeringham, Beckingham, Saunby, Gringley-on-the-Hill, Clayworth, Wiseton, Misson, Cuckney, Nether Langwith, Norton and Holbeck, all within the Bassetlaw Parliamentary Constituency were given the opportunity to participate in the consultation. John Mann received 1,857 responses via email and post with only 9 people (0.48%) supporting the withdrawal or the cutting of the service.

The vast majority of those who responded raised concerns about the increased risk of fly-tipping, many of the responders were elderly people who cannot manage trips to the local household waste recycling centres and residents from Misterton, West Stockwith and Walkeringham have pointed out that this cut would result in a 25-mile round trip for them to take refuse to the household waste site in Retford. People also questioned the limited services that villagers receive in return for their council tax payments and some suggested that this cut should result in a reduction in their charges.

Between 1 Jan 2009 and 31 Dec 2009, West Lindsey District Council received 4,400 calls from residents requesting a bulky collection service and at the same time 829 cases of fly tipping were reported.

Commenting on the huge response to his consultation, John Mann said "Bassetlaw villagers are overwhelmingly saying no to this cut, it's a much needed service particularly for our elderly and vulnerable residents. No one can see the sense in all households having drive up to 25 miles to the nearest tip. This is a service that people want elsewhere in Bassetlaw, residents in Worksop and Retford would love it and it would help bring an end to the terrible scourge of fly tipping. I can't understand how the Council can say that fly tipping won't increase following the loss of this service".

Mann has also raised concerns about the problems that residents in Hallcroft will face with because this cut will increase traffic flows to the Household refuse site. Its predicted that weekends and holidays will see queues of cars waiting to get into the refuse site making life miserable for local residents. John said "life will be hell for Hallcroft residents, this will see traffic flows increase by about 30,000 cars per year on Hallcroft Road and it will be accompanied by queuing cars and rubbish being dumped at the kerbside when drivers give up waiting. The Council must take the sensible course of action and think again on this issue".