87% of Tele readers

Fury grows over council charge for showers

TELE readers have voted overwhelm ingly in favour of scrapping the council’s long-running cont rove rsi a l showe r service charge.

We l aunched our Axe The Shower Tax campaign last week calling on Dundee City Council to put an end to a levy imposed on thousands of residents every week for the “privilege” of having a shower in their home.

And following our online poll in which 1,390 of you voted, more than 87% of readers agreed that the charge needs to go.

Several of you took to our Facebook page to share your own stories of a charge many have no choice but to pay. Lizzy Claassen said: “I asked them to remove mine – they refused. It was already installed when I moved in so I didn’t get the choice of ‘do I want it or not’. I’ve paid £4,630 to date for this shower.”

Shona Gilmore said: “I moved into my new house and the previous tenant had the bath removed and a walk-in shower installed for health reasons. I asked for a bath to be put back in and was told I’d have to pay for this myself, so regardless I’m getting hit by this charge even though it’s been forced on me.”

However, some of you believed the council’s decision to maintain the levy was justified.

Gary Lausch said: “The tenants who feel aggrieved at having to pay for the showers that were fitted before they moved in had the option of taking part in the council’s public consultation that could have stopped the charge – but the majority didn’t bother.”

Several readers have spoken to the Tele directly about their