Wollongong council has been left red-faced after it was called out by talkback titan Alan Jones for taking a child's unattended pram and feeding it to the city's waste compactor.
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Broadcasting from isolation, Jones revealed on Tuesday that a Port Kembla "tech guy" named John, who helps equip Jones' Southern Highlands home studio, had been left stranded with two children and no pram after a recent walk at his local beach.
Jones told his listeners that the father-of-two regularly left his pram at the top of a set of stairs before taking his children onto the sand.
"The other day the pram was gone," Jones explained. "Not [by] some vagrant thief. A courteous gentleman told him that council workers had picked up the pram and taken it away."
The pram reportedly contained nappies and other personal belongings and was worth $1000.
Jones railed against the scenario as an example of "beaurocratic theft and vandalism".
"Even if their action was legitimate, which it wasn't, wouldn't you think there would be some person in that council constituency who could well use a new pram? But no, it's compacted," he said.
"It should be punished at least by compensation. A sensible council would haul the lunatic in who did this and say, 'someone so stupid doesn't deserve to be working for us'."
Council has aknowledged the "misunderstanding", which occurred at MM Beach last week.
The council is now calling on John to make contact for an apology.
"Council has an important role to play in ensuring our public spaces are free of litter and are safe and hygenic. Our community also expects we remove illegally dumped rubbish from around the local government area," a spokeswoman said, in a written response to questions from the Mercury.
"An unattended pram was removed from MM Beach at Port Kembla last week."
"The pram had been seen at the same location on a previous occasion and appeared to be well used and, when lifted, was seen to have damage to the handles. Council staff made a cursory search of the pram and didn't see any identifying features."
The spokeswoman said the pram was disposed of after council staff determined there was no one in the vicinity who looked to be its owner.
"The pram was believed to have been abandoned or had been illegally dumped and placed the item in the waste compactor."
"We are keen to speak to the owner of the pram to apologise for the misunderstanding. We encourage them to get in touch with us on 4227 7111."
The council did not provide a response to the question of whether John will be compensated.
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
