Public cash will not clean up tip

A WORLD famous rock musician was warned that public money could not be used to clean up a ''millionaire's rubbish tip.''

Brian Eno, co-founder of the rock band Roxy Music, wanted Woodbridge Town Council to take responsibility for his "secret garden" off Castle Street in the town and clean it up.

Mr Eno, 55, no longer has a home in Woodbridge but he remains determined to ensure that the wooded oasis where he used to play as a youngster is safeguarded from housing development.

He owns the land which has recently been used as a dumping ground for rubbish including a sofa, the contents of which have been strewn around the site, and where a camouflaged tree hut has been erected.

Mr Eno wants the land to be kept as a ''green lung'' and he has expressed concern about the diminishing amount of green space in Woodbridge.

But Cliff Cocker, a Woodbridge town councillor, proposed to the council at a meeting that: ''In view of the continuing problems with dumping of waste, and the reinstatement of temporary structures on the land at the rear of Castle Street, this council finds that it is unable to fund the clearing of this area.'' This motion was approved.

Cllr Nigel Barratt said: ''Mr Eno was making certain suggestions to the town council that there could be a community use of some sort but in this instance we should not take financial responsibility for clearing what is a private site. The owner probably has more finances available than the town council has to clear the site.''

An earlier council meeting was told that Mr Eno had given his go-ahead too late for the site to be tidied and that council staff could not include it in their maintenance programme. The council would have had to pay the district council to do the work.

The council is now waiting to hear from Mr Eno if he still wants it to take over management of the overgrown sand quarry.