Council defends city centre work amid phone box and ‘worst’ Christmas tree criticism

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Senior councillors in Newport have defended the local authority’s work in the city centre, following criticism of a prominent Christmas tree and littering.

An artificial tree at the bottom of High Street drew online mockery last month after some of its lights stopped working, earning the decoration the unfortunate label of “the worst Christmas tree in Britain” from some critics.

Tory councillor David Fouweather said that while that title “may have been slightly over-exaggerated, several residents did express their disappointment with the fact half of the tree’s fairy lights were ‘off’ and not working, [and] hundreds more highlighted this on social media”.

In a question to the council’s cabinet, he asked why the tree was “left in this state for two whole weeks unfixed and unrepaired”.

In response, Cllr James Clarke and Cllr Yvonne Forsey – the cabinet members for regeneration and climate change, respectively, said “unfortunately” a tree had been “vandalised and some lights broken”.

“The original manufacturer was contacted immediately to source the replacement components and carry out the repair,” they said. “The lead time was longer than we would have liked, however, we are reviewing this to see if there is a way of avoiding such time delays in future.”

Cllr Fouweather also complained about a public phone box in Llanarth Street he said was “left for weeks in a stinking dirty condition”, and asked whether the council had contacted BT to have it cleaned.

The cabinet members said the council had made “multiple” complaints to BT and alleged the firm “persistently fail (sic) to maintain public telephone boxes to a satisfactory standard”.

A BT spokesperson said an engineer inspected and cleaned the phone box in December, but “unfortunately, given our payphones are in public areas and accessible to all, they are often targets of antisocial behaviour and vandalism”.

Members of the public who see a damaged or faulty BT payphone – or one which needs cleaning – should report it to the firm, they added.

Responding to Cllr Fouweather’s general litter concerns, the two cabinet members said a “dedicated cleansing team” operates in the city centre, and more bins were being installed.

They added there had been a “huge increase in activity” in central Newport since the council created a new city centre manager role – including new events like the Winter Wonderland and Music Trail.

The council had also provided “one-on-one support to multiple businesses, helping to see Newport buck the national trend with increased footfall and a decrease in vacant retail units,” they added.