2022: Johnson Drinking Fountain

We have formally objected to the planning application lodged by South Holland District Council to return the Johnson Drinking Fountain to Ayscoughfee Gardens.  Our objection to the planning applications made under references H16-0704-22 and H16-0705-22 can be found below and on the Council's planning pages.

Our objection can be summarised as follows:-

The Heritage Impact Assessment shows neither the accuracy nor coverage one would expect for an application of this public importance.

There has been no pre-application public consultation or engagement, contrary to government guidance, even though Spalding people have shown a clear concern about its siting.

The matter has been pursued in isolation from the Town Centre Regeneration Steering Group, set up by the Council to provide a coherent set of regeneration proposals for the town centre.

The rehabilitation of the Fountain has been inadequately researched:-

• the HIA completely ignores its possible return to working order;
• Historic England’s remit was confined, it seems, to Ayscoughfee Gardens;
• no advice was sought from the experience of either the Drinking Fountain Association or other local authorities with restored drinking fountains;
• no enquiries were made about possible grant funding.

The HIA discusses only a single town centre site, when there are other possibilities, so there is no sequential test.

The proposal to site the Fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens fails to stand up to examination:

• it does not comply with various National Planning Policy Framework and South East Lincolnshire Local Plan requirements for heritage assets;
• and offers no plausible reasons, ignoring the key matter of its heritage significance.

A possible alternative town centre site is explored by the Society that has an arguably much greater claim to the Fountain than Ayscoughfee Gardens.