IT IS difficult to take seriously the comments of the council spokesperson that most of its old furniture will be salvaged for reuse and result in a worthwhile rebate. Dumping furniture into skips open to the elements of a Yorkshire winter is not a good way to store valuable items pending collection.

Given the depressed economy and the contraction of office jobs nationally, there is no shortage of secondhand office furniture. The contractor chosen to handle all this stuff is based 200 miles away in Chelmsford. Is it really worth their while to transport any of it down the motorway? Even if some items are rescued, what net value would they have after the costs of handling, sorting storage and transport are taken into consideration?

If the council had to waste money buying new furniture instead of reusing the good stuff, they could at least have set up a genuine short-term job-creation programme for unemployed young people to sort out and clean the decent furniture for distribution to York residents and charity organisations.

Matthew Laverack, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.

 

• FROM the photographs in The Press of February 15, the furniture in the skips did not look much as if it were to be resold. It looked as if it was going to be dumped.

The council says any in good condition will be sold on, with a rebate coming to the council. What percentage will this rebate take? Better still, how much will it be in real money? If it’s in good condition, why isn’t it being used in the new offices?

The biggest scandal of all is that we are having to pay goodness knows how much for them to furnish their little Lego-type areas.

Janet S Kitchen-Cooper, Ashley Park Road, York.

 

• THE council needs to make up its mind about office furniture. Originally we were told not one piece of their existing stock could be transferred. Now, apparently, the vast majority of it is a valuable asset which can be refurbished.

Well in that case some of it could have been allocated to the new building thereby making a saving on the massive cost of replacing every single desk, chair, bookshelf and cabinet. It might not look as pretty as all new goods, but the taxpayers’ bank balance would look a lot better.

John Jones, Sand Hutton, York.