THE Boyle Cross fountain in the Market Place will be turned back on for eight months of the year from March to October, following a period of disuse after it was switched off earlier this year due to a technical fault and has not been running.
At the recent full town council meeting on Wednesday 7th December, town councillors discussed whether to turn the fountain back on, and the potential benefits and disadvantages for the town in funding this. Three options were presented about what could happen with the fountain going forward.
The options were; To turn on and run for the full year; to repair the fountain and turn on for eight months of the year, or to repurpose. The meeting heard that turning on the fountain for a full year would cost a total of £17,430 and would be ‘cheaper’ to keep on for eight months and turn off in the winter. The running costs for this would be £12,800.
The option of completely turning it off was described at the town council meeting as ‘mothballing’, where the pumps are drained and nothing would be happening; to bring it out of this ‘mothballing’ phase, it would cost £15,000. Some town councillors felt that funding the switching back on of the fountain is ‘wrong’ in a cost-of-living crisis.
Councillor Mark Dorrington said, “When I was councillor in 2018, I was given the honour in being part of the committee that looked after the Boyle Cross. I was amazed by the complexity of the fountain. At that time, we shared the costs with Mendip District Council. Now, we are responsible for 100% of the cost. I think the optics of it at the moment look wrong. £17,000 a year is more than we give Fair Frome in a grant. When people are struggling to pay their bills, it feels like this project is literally pouring money down a drain. I just think when people are struggling it looks wrong at the moment, to be spending money on this. I would be happy to mothball this until thinks look a bit brighter.”
Cllr Nick Dove agreed he said, “I agree with Mark, I won’t vote for this.”
However, one councillor was ‘disappointed’ in the responses to not support switching the fountain back on and felt the council should be ‘encouraging’ the community to spend their money in the town.
Councillor Mel Usher said, “I can’t believe we are talking about this. I can’t understand why we didn’t just fix this as part of a feature in the town that the council provides. “If it was anything else like a chimney falling down in the town hall, it would just be fixed. We have all talked about how to make the town centre attractive, interesting, even sexy. We have just spent money improving the Boyle Cross. Why would we want to go backwards. Fountains are unusual, we’ve got one that works and at little cost we can put it into order.
“The running costs are less than 1% of the council’s budget to fix. I think it will be better to spend it on this than some of the things the rangers do. If we turn it off and drain it, it will never come back on. I think we initiate and encourage other people to spend their money in the town centre. I find it bizarre and disappointing in the responses we’ve had so far about this and I will be supporting this.”
Other councillors ‘liked’ the idea of turning the fountain back on and that in an energy crisis the town still ‘deserves’ to have nice things. Councillor Fiona Barrow said, “I think it is really important that we are making this decision publicly and transparently and the numbers are available for people to find out. It is public money; it’s town money and I think we need to be clear because it could be seen as non-essential at a difficult time.
“I keep coming back to the question of: what our role as a town council is and our role is to manage the spaces that we own and to manage them in a way that is the best for town. We can’t solve the cost-of-living crisis and if we could, I would definitely take the opportunity to do so in a heart-beat. We’re doing everything as much as possible that we can to help. The issue is so much bigger than we are but just because it’s a hard time it doesn’t mean we can’t have nice things.
“I’ve come back to that. The seating and planters make the Market Place such a lovely space and I think the fountain will add to that. I like the idea of turning it off for four months of the year, then turn it on in March as a sign of spring. I personally will vote for the £12,000 funding.”
With the upcoming closure of the HSBC branch in the Market Place, another councillor felt funding the fountain to turn on would be a ‘worthwhile’ investment in the town.
Cllr Andy Jones said, “The other factor that has come into play very recently is the sad news that the HSBC branch is pulling out of that iconic building right next to this site. I think it will be worthwhile for us to invest our money in the heart of the town.”
The Boyle Cross Fountain was installed in 1871 by the Reverend Boyle to provide drinking water. The fountain then went through a period of disuse after World War 2. The discussion about whether to turn the fountain back on follows a recent ‘improvement’ of the Market Place, where the town council have installed new benches and planters.
Beneath the fountain is a confined space and a plant room that is entered by town rangers weekly and monthly by contractors to maintain the running of the fountain.
The fountain will be switched on for eight months of the year and will be reviewed if circumstances change.
