The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A formal planning application has been submitted to site Spalding’s former drinking fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens.
Despite calls for it to be repositioned in the town centre where it was historically set, it seems likely the fountain will be in the gardens.
South Holland District Council has allocated £24,000 for the job of re-siting the fountain, which is not working.
It was initially installed in the town centre in 1874 by the Spalding Water Company as a thank you to benefactor Mary Ann Johnson.
Among voices asking for the fountain to be returned to the town centre, Spalding Civic Society set up a petition in a bid to support its case.
The district council appointed consultants Oglesby and Limb to review the decision to re-site the fountain.
A subsequent report said that in terms of safety at night, it would be better sited in the closed gardens rather than being in Hall Place (pictured right).
“Most of the buildings that would have surrounded it have been torn down and been replaced by modern buildings that lacks the charm of their predecessors,” it said.
The reasoning matched the objections to a town centre site put forward by members of the council.
There was also disagreement over whether or not the fountain should be working, which it won’t due to the high cost of making it work once again, along with potential health and safety issues.
The application also includes protective railings and a surround for the fountain.
If approved, it would be positioned on the site of a former paddling pool in Ayscoughfee Gardens.
