Don’t drain us

When the heavens open and the rain falls, it means bad news for local churches, according to the Bishop of Middleton.

The Right Rev Mark Davies launched the DontDrainUs campaign at Manchester Cathedral — calling for an end to the ‘rain tax.’

The tax, which was introduced last year by four water companies including United Utilities, is calculated on the surface area and boundary area of a property.

United Utilities has introduced the new charge to cover the cost of surface water and highways drainage.

Churches, clubs and charities will receive same-sized bills as industry and factories, according to DontDrainUs.

It essence, it means Manchester Cathedral would be billed more than the local Harvey Nichols department store, McDonalds restaurants would pay less than some Scout groups, and Oldham churches could have to pay £1,000 a year more.

The Bishop, who cares for churches in Oldham, said: “This will see millions of pounds drained from organisations which are often run by volunteers, which depend on donations, and which enrich every community in the country.

“We are sure the Government and Ofwat did not mean to allow monopoly water companies free reign to reduce the water bills of multi-million pound companies at the expense of churches, charities and clubs.

“But the introduction of the national rain tax has done exactly this.

“We hope regulations can now be brought forward to introduce fair rain water charging by water companies here in the North-West of England and beyond.”