Witney News - Residents chance to get Council Tax paid!

Residents chance to get Council Tax paid!

West Oxfordshire residents who sign up to the District Council’s garden waste scheme are being given the chance to get their Council Tax paid for the year (equivalent to Band D).

Anyone who joins the fortnightly collection scheme by 14th August will be entered into a free prize draw to be in with the chance of winning their Council Tax paid up to £1,414.96 for the year 2009/10 – equivalent to Band D. Residents who have already signed up to the scheme will automatically be entered into the draw.

One lucky winner will be picked at random during August, after the prize draw closes.

All people have to do to enter is sign up to the scheme, which costs the equivalent of just £3 per month.

The fee for anyone who joins now is £39 for 13 months, until the end of September 2010. Included in this cost is a 240 litre wheeled bin, which residents can use to dispose of garden waste ranging from grass and hedge cuttings to hay and straw, and leave outside their homes every two weeks for collection.

The Council is running the prize draw to encourage as many people as possible to sign up to the scheme and help to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Garden waste accounts for a large percentage of waste that goes to landfill each year. Here it breaks down to form leachate, a harmful liquid that can pollute water and soil, and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes towards global warming.

“By joining the scheme, residents will ensure that their garden waste is diverted from landfill sites and turned into compost.”

Residents can sign up for the scheme and find out more about the prize draw via the Council’s website www.westoxon.gov.uk/garden or by calling 01993 861020.