OUT IN THE COLD
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PARISHIONERS have had to move out of their church after the venue was forced to shut when it was left without heating.
Officials at Leek’s St John’s Church have been told it will cost more than £13,500 for a new gas connection and to reconnect the boiler to a large industrial meter.
But Reverend Nigel Irons, of the Belle Vue Road church believes they shouldn’t have to foot the bill and believes British Gas or gas network company Cadent should stump up the cash.
While the stand-off continues the congregation has moved to Leek’s St Edward’s Church.
The wrangle over who should pay comes as leaders at the church claim it was British Gas who changed their original industrial meter to a domestic one in 2009.
Last month the church was forced to close after a routine inspection from HPI Building Services found the present meter to be inadequate and potentially dangerous.
Engineers told parishioners they needed a larger industrial meter and a larger feeder pipe from the gas main. The firm disconnected the boiler and quoted £3,532 to reconnect it to a new meter. British Gas then quoted £10,105 to install a new, larger connection from the mains.
But the church, which has an average congregation of 15, only has £11,000 in the bank.
Now Reverend Nigel Irons has written to Cadent, which has taken over the gas mains from British Gas, asking them to accept liablity.
Reverend Irons said: “I wrote to them four weeks ago and have not had a reply. I am concerned we have not had a response. We are asking them to accept liability for what the gas board did nine years ago. They changed the pipe from industrial to domestic. Now we have had the boiler inspected and have been told the domestic connection is inadequate.
“From our perspective it appears the church is being asked to pay more than £13,500 to correct a mistake which was made by British Gas nine years ago.
“In addition to closing down as a place of worship, the church is also losing revenue because it has now had to cancel the bookings of groups who were hiring it regularly during the week. We cannot rent it out because of the absence of heating and because, having drained the water system, there are no working kitchen or toilet facilities available for use.
“In the meantime the building itself will deteriorate more rapidly the longer it is left unheated during the winter months.”
Members of the congregation want to return to St John’s as soon as possible.
Church warden Ben Proctor, aged 77, said: “It has been shut for a number of weeks. It is decaying and getting very damp.”
Church organist Jean Scott, aged 68, said: “Organs do not like cold weather. It is the worst time of the year it could happen.”
Husband, Les Scott, aged 68, said: “The facilities at St John’s are used by a dog training group, a theatre group, line dancing, a choral society, a gospel choir, and for table tennis. We are worried now they are having to go somewhere else they might not come back. We are concerned the church could close.”
A spokesman for Cadent said: “We have looked into an inquiry regarding this issue; however, we have not been involved in this matter. Cadent did renew the gas mains in the street and the service pipe, as part of an ongoing gas mains replacement programme, but the new service pipe would only be appropriate for the size of the meter that was installed in the church at the time. We are sorry to hear of the church’s difficulty and we hope it is resolved soon.”