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Antrim - Event Notice
Thursday January 01 1970

Protest Against Water Charges

antrim | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice

Tuesday March 18, 2008 23:43

by Non-payer - We Won't Pay Campaign

wewontpay at btconnect dot com

02890311778

The We Won't Pay Campaign has called a protest in Belfast against the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive's decision to introduce water charges in April 2009.

1pm Saturday 5th April Castle Place

Water bills see 15% increase, 14 months before they’re introduced!
February 28th, 2008

The We Won’t Pay Campaign has announced that the unexpected threat of water bills increasing by 15% next year is a warning of what will happen year after year unless the charges are defeated.

Pat Lawlor, secretary of the anti-water charges campaign, said “We have continuously warned that once water charges are introduced, bills will escalate year after year which will financially cripple thousands of households. We have seen the experience already in Britain, where water charges soared by 50% in the first four years of the introductionof water charges. This year, bills will increase by 18% on average in April, some areas will see water bills go up by 25%.”

The We Won’t Pay Campaign also attacked the “political parties who claimed to oppose water charges when seeking election to the Assembly but are now clearly preparing to stab the people in the back by imposing charges next April.”

The group also demanded that the “water service be brought fully back into public ownership and democratically run in the interests of the public, and not as a potential source of profits as the directors of Northern Ireland Water Ltd. want.”

Comments (4 of 4)

by h

publication date

Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:32

I can't wait to hear the explanation from the MLA's on this one - will definitely be coming to protest.

Download the poster

by non-payer - WWPC

publication date

Fri Mar 28, 2008 18:49

Download the poster and display in your area.

Display the poster in your area 0.08 Mb

Plans to collect water charges via rates illegal

by non-payer - WWPC

publication date

Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:06

Legal bombshell causes funding crisis for Northern Ireland Water

The long-running controversial plan to introduce water charges has taken a dramatic new twist after a Department of Finance Personnel official has admitted that water charges cannot be collected through the rates on behalf of Northern Ireland Water Ltd.

Brian McClure, Head of Rating Policy Division at the Department of Finance & Personnel in a written response to a request from anti-water charges campaigner Gary Mulcahy of the We Won’t Pay Campaign states ‘LPS (Land & Property Services) is not equipped nor are the necessary contractual and legal arrangements in place to allow it to collect revenues on behalf of a private company at this particular point in time.’ Northern Ireland Water Ltd., the company established last April to run the water service is owned by the Department for Regional Development, but its legal status is a private company.

The decision of the Northern Ireland Executive to itemise water charges on domestic rates bills in April could now be reversed at the last minute causing a potential funding crisis for NI Water. It also raises serious questions over how water charges could be collected next year.

Gary Mulcahy explained ‘The Executive had hoped that by introducing additional water charges through the rates, on top of what we already pay, people would reluctantly accept the charge. But it now seems they cannot go down that road. The rates cannot be used to collect revenue on behalf of private companies.’

‘The We Won’t Pay Campaign is demanding the parties in the Executive should completely scrap water charges. They claimed to oppose water charges during the Assembly elections but have decided to impose them next year. They also claim to be opposed to privatisation of the water service, but private companies such as Thames Water are now running water treatment facilities. We are calling on the public to join our protest in Belfast city centre on Saturday 5th April 1pm at Castle Place to demand the scrapping of water charges and the return of the water service fully into public ownership democratically run in the interests of people, not for profit.’

by young socialist

publication date

Wed Apr 09, 2008 00:38

Not able to make the protest at the weekend. How did it go any pictures? Also any chance of Gary putting the letter on line sounds like it will make interesting reading.