With £500,000 set aside to regenerate the town centre, it is disappointing to find a major opportunity being missed.
A planning application to rebuild the Johnson Drinking Fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens was re-submitted by the council on 19 July. Spalding and District Civic Society has long believed its rightful place is in the town centre.
An outline of the Society’s case for refusing the application argues: – The agent’s Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) shows neither the accuracy nor the coverage one would expect.
There has been no public consultation, contrary to government guidance, even though people have shown a clear concern about where the Fountain should go.
The matter has been pursued in isolation, without informing the Town Centre Regeneration Steering Group, set up by the council.
The relocation of the restored Fountain has been poorly researched: –
* the HIA ignores it’s possible return to full working order.
*l Historic England was consulted, only about Ayscoughfee Gardens.
* no advice was sought from either the Drinking Fountains Association or
authorities where drinking fountains are restored.
* no enquiries were made about any possible grant funding.
The HIA discusses just one town centre site (Hall Place), when other possibilities include the Market Place, Sheepmarket, Swan Walk, Red Lion Street and Bridge Street.
The proposal to site the Fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens fails to stand up to examination: –
* it does not comply with requirements out in the National Planning
Policy Framework and the Local Plan.
* concern over possible damage appears excessive.
* it offers no plausible reasons for the choice of Ayscoughfee Gardens.
An Alternative, if Hall Place is a non-starter, then the why not Market Place?
* The Drinking Fountain would be surrounded by other Victorian and Edwardian buildings
* Indeed, minutes of Spalding Water Company indicate it was designed for the Market Place.
* It is in the shape of a market cross.
* There was a market cross there until 1772.
* There was a public water pump in the Market Place, which survived until the 1950s.
* In the Market Place, if restored to working order, it would connect with large numbers of people in a practical way
* With heatwaves expected to become part of the normal British summer, the value of a drinking fountain in the town centre needs no emphasis.
* In more or less the same place as the original cross, a market cross and drinking
fountain would see a powerful double restoration
* It would enhance the Market Place and is therefore an obvious, ready-made feature for the regeneration of the town.
John Bland
Spalding Civic Society
