Former Peterborough City Council leader warns fountain shutdown could be a 'mistake'

The former Peterborough City Council leader who oversaw the installation of the city centre fountains more than a decade ago says it would be a mistake to permanently switch off the water feature.

John Peach, who was local authority leader for 2009/10, oversaw the £10 million transformation of the city centre, which included the demolition of the Norwich Union building, the repaving of Cathedral Square and the putting in place of the 25 fountains.

He said: “Unless there are any great ideas for a replacement to the fountains, then I think it would be a mistake and a shame.

“If the fountains were permanently switched off, it would be an horrendous cost if the council wanted to use them again later.

“The original idea was that if necessary half the fountains could be switched off and a pop-up market placed in another part of Cathedral Square or they could all be turned off if a bigger event was taking place.

"I think there have been many changes over the years and there aren’t enough people who know how to look after a water display.”

During his time as leader, Mr Peach oversaw the agreement with then East Midlands Development Agency that secured a £10 million grant for the regeneration of the city centre.

Mr Peach said much of the money was spent on the purchase and demolition of the Norwich Union building.

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

But now the water feature is feared could soon become a real drain on taxpayers' cash, was paid.

And councillors have proposed a permanent switch off wake in the face of an expected repair bill this year of £35,000 and as they battle to balance the budget and find about £11 million of savings and transformations.

But Toby Wood, vice-chairman of the Peterborough Civic Society, said: “This is the perfect opportunity for the council to be pro-active and to seek the opinions of the public about how the city centre can be used.

“I don’t think the fountains will be missed that much as they have been faulty over the last few years.

“People have just been waiting for them to go wrong again and it has not been a good use of the money over the years.

“Now the council has a really good opportunity to consider what else the city centre can be used for - community facilities, performance space, pop up markets, more use of planters.”

The first time Peterborough’s fountains were switched on was June 2, 2010 and even then there were some technical issues that were quickly resolved.

The fountains were briefly switched off two years later amid claims they were being misused by some members of the public.

Difficulties getting the fountains to work were particularly acute in the financial year 2022/23 when the cost of repairs and maintenance rose to £30,737.

It prompted the council to run a public poll on whether to spend £35,000 maintaining and repairing the water feature with 2,701 public votes to switch off the fountains for the summer in 2023 and 1,916 in favour of the fountains being switched on.