Council tips to start selling off unwanted items (From Witney Gazette)

Council tips to start selling off unwanted items

7:00am Tuesday 19th February 2013 in News By Pete Hughes, Reporter. Call me on 01865 425431

OXFORDSHIRE County Council has come up with a new scheme to raise money – and it’s rubbish.

Councillors plan to set up ‘re-use areas’ at recycling centres, selling second-hand furniture, crockery and toys to bring in extra income.

Council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “We hope to make enough to cover the cost of running the centres.

“It would be fantastic if they did.”

Last year the council proposed closing its recycling centres at Stanford in the Vale and Ardley, near Bicester, and replacing them with a £3m superdump in Kidlington as part of a plan to save £750,000.

But the scheme ran into problems over land ownership problems in Kidlington.

In the new re-use areas, people leaving items will not receive any money, but the goods will be sold on.

The council’s cabinet member for growth and infrastructure Hilary Hibbert-Biles said: “Oxfordshire is currently the best county council in England for recycling and composting, and we want to continue to improve, helping residents to produce less waste and recycling as much as they can.

“With on-going national pressure on public finances, all councils are having to come up with new ideas to generate income, and if the trial is successful, we will consider using re-use areas to help fund waste management services, as well as providing a new opportunity for visitors to pick up a bargain.”

This month the council’s recycling contractor, Weymouth and Sherborne Recycling, launched a six-month trial of the scheme at Stanford in the Vale and at the Alkerton recycling centre, near Banbury.

If the trial goes well, the council could adopt the scheme itself and use the income generated to offset some of the cost of running waste management services.

Visitors will be encouraged to donate anything from crockery and collectables to furniture and kitchen equipment, provided it is in decent condition.

The shops will not be able to sell electricals, as the contractor will not have the facility to test them for safety.

Donations can be left by the public in the re-use areas, and they will be priced on site.

Goods will not be transported from other waste and recycling centres in Oxfordshire for sale at either Alkerton or Stanford in the Vale.

The trials will help the council judge the demand for the facilities and provide information about the amount of material that can be re-used through them.

The experiment will not cost the council anything to run, as all resources and staffing will be provided by the contractor.