12 February 2009
Water companies are being urged to review drainage charges imposed on community buildings following a number of complaints.
According to the Guardian, environment minister Huw Irranca-Davies is calling for a rethink of new pricing policies introduced last year.
Places of worship, sports clubs and charities are now charged the full cost of draining water from roofs and car parks by some water companies.
Mr Irranca-Davies claims this is crippling many voluntary groups and is urging water firms to take into consideration what these organisations can afford.
"We expect the water companies to adopt a more compassionate and understanding approach to the sometimes quite astronomical increases in bills that happened last year," he said.
He also suggested that some water firms have been accidentally overcharging community buildings for these drainage services.
According to the BBC, water industry regulator Ofwat has deemed the charges - dubbed a rainfall tax - to be fair.