How tiny kirk with no water was hit by £200 bill for...water
IN the 200 years since it was built, Kilmonivaig Parish Church has never had the ‘luxury’ of indoor plumbing.
When water is needed for a baptism or flower vases, someone nips off to get it from the neighbouring community hall.
But despite lacking even a single tap, the church has landed a bill for nearly £200, issued by Scottish Water subsidiary Business Stream.
Church trustee John Fotheringham, who lives near the kirk in Spean Bridge, Inverness-shire, queried the £194.38 charge after it was issued in August.
He said: ‘Our church has not had a tap or toilet since it was built 203 years ago so it’s ridiculous and unnecessarily bureaucratic that, on paper, we have access [to water] because of the community hall next door. We were shocked to get a bill as it’s something we’ve never had to deal with for the church.
‘I immediately called Business Stream but when I tried to explain I was told that because we fill our
‘The whole thing should be dropped’
flower vases with water for funerals and the font for baptisms from the tap in the community hall, we technically have access to water and are eligible to be billed.’
The bill arrived after a restructuring meant the church was given its own ‘supply point identification’ number, something issued to public buildings eligible to pay water rates.
Charities, such as churches, do not have to pay these fees, but they must apply for exemption by completing the necessary paperwork every year.
The Reverend Richard Baxter, 56, said the church trust spends time filling out these forms for the community hall, which is only a few yards from the kirk building.
He added: ‘It’s frustrating. The time and energy it takes our members to complete the process is all time and effort that could be spent for good – and when it comes down to it, Business Stream is never going to make a penny from us as we do not have any water in the building so there is nothing to bill. This is just an exercise in paperwork.’
Mr Fotheringham added: ‘We have never had to fill in annual exception forms for the church before, and this change on paper means that I now have that to deal with every year.
‘I am 70 years old and it’s a lot of paperwork and stress for absolutely no reason at all. This is a point of principle. As far as Business Stream is concerned we are exempt from water rates because we are a charity, not because we don’t have any water. Given the amount of work, time and money it takes us to complete the process, the whole thing should just be dropped.’
Business stream apologised and said the matter had been resolved. Director of customer operations Jo Mayes added: ‘We are pleased that following a successful application process which we assisted with, the church and church hall have now been granted charitable exemption, meaning no payment is required from either site.’
The church, built in 1814, serves the communities of Spean Bridge, Roybridge and Torlundy. It has around 100 regular parishioners.