Council agrees to consider changing planned new location for historic Fenland fountain

Plans to move a Fenland town’s historic fountain will be looked at again after more than 3,500 people signed a petition opposing its proposed new location.

March’s century-old Coronation Fountain was due to be relocated from the road to the pavement on Broad Street in June, but the move has faced delays amid opposition from residents.

Last month, it was pushed back after locals spotted doves nesting in the structure; it has since faced renewed opposition with residents presenting a petition challenging its re-location to Fenland District Council (FDC) councillors.

This states that repositioning the fountain on the pavement in front of Malletts jewellers – as was agreed at a planning meeting in February – is “unacceptable” and has been signed 3,587 times.

At a full council meeting this week, FDC agreed to review the proposed location, around 14 metres away from where the fountain currently sits between two lanes of traffic, at its next cabinet meeting in September.

Councillors unanimously voted to do this, although not before those who sit on the planning committee removed themselves from the room to avoid any possible conflict of interest.

Those councillors had previously agreed to dismantling and moving the 111-year-old Coronation Fountain to facilitate the construction of a roundabout at its current spot as part of a package of works aimed at regenerating March's town centre.

These also include introducing new paving, bike racks, seating, planters and trees to Broad Street.

But these works could potentially be delayed by changing the new position of the fountain, council leader Cllr Chris Boden (Conservatives, Whittlesey East and Villages) said, affecting available grant funding and increasing costs.

There’s also the possibility that the planning committee wouldn’t agree to its new position or that Historic England, a statutory consultee, could object to any new plans, he said.

This all depends on where FDC’s cabinet proposes relocating the fountain if indeed they do so; before their next meeting they will be presented with a report, drawn up by council officers, laying out the risks of a possible move to inform their decision.

Cllr Boden added that he will be “open-minded” in reviewing any possible changes and will wait for the report to come out before taking a position on the issue as he has “no skin in the game” in keeping the proposed location the same.

Cllr Gavin Booth (Liberal Democrats, Parson Drove & Wisbech St Mary) suggested that the council might be seen as “arrogant and not listening to the people” if it doesn’t seriously consider changing the planned new location for the fountain.

There are “possibilities here”, he added, mentioning the former Barclays Bank site on Bridge Street as a potential alternative as well as near the town’s riverbank and bridge.

The fountain was always intended to be kept in storage for around a year before it's reassembled, meaning the delay won't necessary impact March's regeneration project straightaway.

FDC’s cabinet will discuss the possible change on 11th September.