Water activists hold back support for new measures

THE rural water charges lobby is reserving its position on fielding general election candidates after the Government's announcement of a £7.23 million package of subsidies to 145,000 households.

In an attempt to placate the National Federation of Group Water Schemes, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, has proposed that an interim payment of £20 or £45, depending on whether the water is publicly or privately sourced, be awarded to the 145,000 householders to coincide with the expected election in May.

This will be the first instalment in the package of proposals approved by the Cabinet yesterday, awarding £7.3 million in reliefs to rural households on private or group water schemes for domestic use.

A new annual subsidy of up to £75 for each house connected to a privately sourced group scheme, and £35 for each house connected to a publicly sourced group scheme, are being provided by Mr Howlin to meet the schemes' running costs.

Local authorities will pay up to £75 per house for the estimated 55,000 homes connected to groups with private sources. They will pay up to £35 per house for the estimated 90,000 houses supplied from a local authority source of domestic water. The annual costs will be £4.1 million and £3.15 million respectively.

The money will be paid by local authorities directly to the trustees of group water schemes.

The Minister has also announced a new capital grants scheme to assist with the provision or upgrading of the water supply. A grant of 75 per cent of the cost, up to a maximum of £1,600 per house, will be available to households which arc not connected to either a public or group scheme water supply.

Only one grant per house will be allowed in any 10-year period and the grant will apply to the provision or upgrading of a supply, the treatment of a supply where quality is deficient or the replacement of pumps or piping.

Using the latest figures in the 1991 census, Mr Howlin calculated that there were an estimated 130,000 households with their own private water supplies and a further 12,000 with no piped water supply.

To meet the immediate political problem that the £35 and £75 subsidies will be paid in arrears on account, Mr Howlin announced that an interim payment will be made each year in May of up to £45 and £20 for groups with private and public sources of water respectively.

Besides the annual cost of £7.23 million for subsidies, the Minister, could not calculate the cost of the capital grants "because they are a demand-led scheme".

Reacting to the measures, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes said that the Government had failed to address in any meaningful way their legitimate demands.

Their chairman, Mr Bernard Keeley, called on all political parties to respond quickly to their recent letter requesting their party's position if the impasse was to be resolved.