Causing a stink

One source of the smell is widely regarded to be the sugar factory just out of town on the Old Great North Road.

Some may consider the smell a little sickly-sweet, but is it really that unpleasant?

It’s certainly not bad enough for the town to be labelled Newark-on-Stink rather than Newark-on-Trent.

Nottinghamshire county and Newark and Sherwood district councillor Mr Keith Walker used that rather unfortunate phrase during a debate at County Hall over whether a replacement for the waste recycling centre at Cotham should be allowed on Brunel Drive, Newark.

District councillors Mrs Gill Dawn and Mrs Irene Brown took exception to Mr Walker’s remark and, at a district council meeting on Tuesday, demanded an apology.

Mr Walker would not say sorry as he said the phrase was not his, but one others had used to describe Newark to him.

That being the case, his decision to repeat it could certainly be regarded as ill-judged and unnecessary.

More importantly, the county council approved its own application for the replacement waste recycling centre, despite opposition from the district council and people living nearby.

The plans for the centre have caused something of a stink in more ways than one.