05/02/2009 - Government petitioned over rain tax
The Government has received a petition from former England sports stars Brian Moore and Mike Gatting, demanding that community sports clubs be exempt from a controversial tax which could close them.
The so-called rain tax - a levy on the amount of rainwater falling on properties and running into drains - is a huge expense for sports centres on minimal budgets.
Because the calculation is based on a property's surface area, small clubs maintaining big sports fields have been hit with massive bills.
BBC Sport pundit and former Rugby Union star Brian Moore launched a petition campaigning against the tax last month. He and former England cricket captain Mike Gatting presented the document, which has more than 2,000 signatures, to Huw Irranca-Davies, parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Mr Moore said that the changes in the way water charges are levied by some companies meant that several community non-profit sporting clubs are facing increases of more than 1,000%.
A Defra spokesman commented: "There is something is clearly very wrong if community amateur sports clubs and churches are facing hikes in their bills of several hundred per cent. Ministers are meeting Ofwat for an urgent report on progress."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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