The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A planning application to place a water fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens has been withdrawn with a conservation group claiming it is due to them not being consulted.
Coun Rodney Grocock said a new application for the siting of the Johnson Drinking Fountain would be submitted soon.
In a statement, the Spalding and District Civic Society said it had forced the withdrawal because “there had been insufficient opportunity for the Society to fully consider the Heritage Impact Assessment”.
The society has campaigned for the fountain to be returned to Spalding town centre where it was installed in Hall Place in 1874 before being moved to Ayscoughfee where it stood until 2018.
South Holland District Council though says it’s not practical to put it in the town centre and the application went in two weeks ago before being withdrawn last week.
The statement from the civic society said: “On April 19 we were contacted by the council advising us that the planning application was being withdrawn because the Historic England advice had not been supplied to the Society as promised, and in recognition that there had been insufficient opportunity for the Society to fully consider the Heritage Impact Assessment.
“We are in the process of putting together our considered response to the council’s proposals and will continue to engage in dialogue with the council regarding the future of the Johnson Drinking Fountain in the hope that all options will be carefully considered.”
Coun Grocock said: “That was one of the issues.
“The application went in to early by the agent and didn’t go through the proper processes. It’s a case of it’s still going to be put back in but with a few tweaks.”
