Tidy Our Town: Labour councillor explains how ‘community skip scheme’ could benefit West Northamptonshire
A Labour councillor has explained how a ‘community skip scheme’ could benefit West Northamptonshire and its ongoing issue with littering and fly tipping.
This scheme was among a number of suggestions made in the West Northamptonshire Labour Party’s budget amendments on February 20, all of which were voted against at the council meeting.
Some London boroughs have reduced their levels of fly tipping by providing a skip for residents to discard of their waste, as opposed to leaving it on the streets and roadsides.
The proposal, estimated to cost £45,000, was to trial a similar community skip scheme – in which West Northamptonshire Council provides a skip for one day per month over half-a-year.
The trial was proposed to take place in the ten worst wards for fly tipping, and the skips would be manned by at least two staff members to ensure they are being used correctly. They could also hand out advice and information on WNC waste services.
Though Labour’s alternative budget was lost, Councillor Keith Holland-Delamere for Billing and Rectory Farm believes the idea was well-received and may be considered following the May local election.
“There are challenges across urban and rural areas,” Cllr Holland-Delamere told the Chronicle & Echo. “We know we’ve got a real problem we need to tackle through a coherent strategy. There was cross-party support for the reopening of the tips seven days a week.”
Cllr Holland-Delamere believes community skips would offer valuable support to those who do not have the means to get their items to recycling centres – such as the elderly, disabled and those who do not drive.
He also recognises the need to offer alternatives for those who may not be able to get to the skips in the first place.
A similar scheme was trialled in Rectory Farm when Cllr Holland-Delamere was the chair of the Rectory Farm Residents Association. He believes it had the desired effect on the two occasions it was done in 2017.
When asked why he thinks this scheme is important to consider for West Northamptonshire, Cllr Holland-Delamere said: “It’s part of a wider conversation of a systemic problem and a culture of throwing things away.”
He believes a change of attitude is needed across the community and a skip scheme may be the proactive approach West Northamptonshire needs.
The hope is that if people are aware of when a skip will be available to them and what they can put in it, it will reduce fly tipping in hotspot areas.
If you would like to get involved in the Tidy Our Town campaign, established in collaboration with the Northants Litter Wombles, email [email protected].