Kilmonivaig Church billed for water supply it has never had
SCOTTISH Government environment minister Roseanna Cunningham could be dragged into a row over a small Lochaber church technically being eligible for water rates despite it never having a water supply in the two centuries since it was built.
Kilmonivaig Parish Church hall, near Spean Bridge, has a water supply, but has been exempt from water and sewerage charges as it is a registered charity together with its adjacent church.
But although it has never had a water supply, the church – just five metres away – also has its own water Supply Point Identification number (SPID).
There had been no issues until this year, when it emerged that there would be separate bills for the church and hall for which separate charity exemptions would have to be applied for.
Business Stream, the Scottish Water subsidiary which deals with non-domestic customers, told church trustee John Fotheringham that both Kilmonivaig Parish Church and the hall are assessed separately under the rates system.
But although both buildings are now exempt from paying the annual charges, it still means more paperwork for Mr Fotheringham to claim separate exemptions for the two sites.
‘This seems unnecessarily bureaucratic as we are just one small charity with two buildings on a very small footprint,’ Mr Fotheringham told Business Stream last month.
‘The principle of why we should have to double our work for no gain whatsoever for either of us needs to be resolved.’
Business Stream’s Caroline Davies told Mr Fotheringham that although the church had no direct water supply, it did have access to the supply in the church hall.
‘In such circumstances, unmeasured charges, based on the Rateable Value (RV), are applicable for each property as there is no meter installed to capture the full consumption used by the church and the church hall,’ she wrote.
Mr Fotheringham says he was flabbergasted on querying this to be informed that even if the minister fills up a glass of water in the adjacent hall and carries it into the church to sip during a sermon, this could count as a water supply in the church.
And he decried the situation as a ridiculous state of affairs and, on the instruction of his fellow trustees, has now escalated the matter to Business Stream bosses. And he further warned Business Stream that failing to get a practical solution will see him take the matter up with Ms Cunningham, the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for Scottish Water and Business Stream.
‘We feel your company’s ruling that our church, which for 202 years has had neither water nor sewerage, can be charged for both because in your words we have access to a supply even though you have no evidence that we have used it, is ridiculous,’ he told Business Stream.
‘This is a point of principle and given the amount of work both you and I have undertaken it is a gross waste of public money and volunteer time.’
Asked to comment, Jo Mayes, Business Stream’s director of customer operations, said: ‘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. We are in close contact with the customer to make sure there are no outstanding issues.’
Calling for either Business Stream or the government to cancel one of the two SPIDs, Mr Fotheringham said: ‘Too many people these days seem to take the contribution of volunteers for granted and that our efforts don’t matter, nor does our time.
‘How often will this sort of thing be happening across Scotland?’