Cost of installing Peterborough's fountains came in at £340,000 plus VAT, new figures show

The cost of installing 25 fountains in Peterborough city centre more than a decade ago amounted to £340,000 plus, it has been revealed.

The Cathedral Square water feature, which is feared could soon become a real drain on taxpayers' cash, was paid for through a grant from the then East of England Development Agency.

The installation cost of £340,000 plus VAT has been revealed in a Freedom of Information request to Peterborough City Council.

The details come as the council is poised to conclude a poll of residents to gauge their feelings about the cash-strapped local authority continuing to pay hefty repairs costs each year to keep the fountains flowing.

Details contained in the FOI response show that the main contractor for the installation in 2010 was Osbornes with design work carried out by a number of consultants including LDA, Pell Frischmann and Fountain Workshop.

It was part of an £11.4 million spend on transforming the city centre.

But since then the annual cost of keeping the fountains running has mounted with the local authority forking out £280,860 since the financial year 2010/11 to May 20, 2021.

Last year was said to have been the most challenging for the council as engineers sought to resolve issues with the fountains.

Now council chiefs say that £35,000 will be needed this year to maintain and repair the water feature.

They are concerned that during a cost of living crisis, spending such a sum on the fountains would be frowned on by the public.

Council leader Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald said that so far the poll seemed to indicate 60 percent against spending the cash with 40 percent of respondents in favour.

He said: “It hardly seems to be decisive one way or another.

“The poll is only advisory. We like to engage with the public and to gauge public opinion but it will still be down to elected councillors to make a decision.

“I think the fountains will be switched on again this year but we will have to see about next year.”