EU law threatens parish church organ (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

EU law threatens parish church organ

THE grand organ in Cirencester Parish Church is in danger of being silenced forever because of new legislation from Brussels bigwigs.

Plans to repair the 110-year-old organ, known affectionately as Father Willis, will have to be shelved if an EU directive to limit the amount of lead used in electrical items comes into force.

This could spell the end of traditional organ music in churches all over the land as church authorities will be banned from repairing and restoring their instruments with the lead-tin alloy required for the pipes.

Neil Shepherd, director of music at the church, said this week: "It would be an enormous shame if the rebuilding of the organ in the Parish Church could not take place, after years of hard work and planning by the church authorities.

"Parts of the organ go back over 100 years or so and are urgently in need of restoration. Not only does this affect Cirencester Parish Church but every church in the country which houses a pipe organ."

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment acts were introduced to limit the dumping of electrical items such as mobile phones and computer circuit boards into landfill sites.

The EU's decision to include pipe organs in the acts is a further slap in the face to churches because organ pipes are never disposed of in landfill but are always recycled for use in new pipes.

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown told the Standard this week: "It is EU interference at its worst possible level. There is no wonder the EU is so unpopular if it keeps passing ridiculous legislation like this."

The Institute of British Organ Building (IBO) is urging all organ builders, organists, clergy and music fans everywhere to contact MPs and pressure them to raise the issue with Department of Trade and Industry and the European Commission.

In a letter to organists nationwide, Katherine Venning, president of the IBO, said: "There is a very black cloud on the horizon. This is not a safety issue. Pipe makers live to a ripe old age, with no known damage to their health. The use of tin-lead alloy is essential. There is no known substitute that will give equivalent results."

She added: "Pipe organs last indefinitely, and present no threat to the environment."

Hand blown, mechanical action organs will not be affected by the legislation, despite the fact that they too have lead-alloy pipes, as they have no electric parts.