The approved spot for March’s historic Coronation Fountain won’t change, Fenland District Council (FDC) has decided, despite residents petitioning against it.  

The council approved a planning application to move the century-old fountain from its current position between two lanes of traffic on Broad Street to the pavement in February but was met with subsequent backlash from residents unhappy that it would block the front of Mallett’s jewellers. 

The petition, set up by the jewellers’ owner, said that it’s “unacceptable” to block a commercial property with the fountain – which is being moved to make way for a new roundabout. 

Having received more than 3,500 signatures, the petition was considered by the council, which drew up options for an alternate location including at the riverside, adjacent to the marketplace, in West End Park and outside Iceland, just off March’s High Street.  

These options were rejected for various reasons, including cost, technical risks and heritage risks; moving it to the riverside, for example, would mean the area would need a full redesign and could cost between £150K – £200K, an FDC report says.   

Historic England would also be unlikely to support this proposal as the fountain would be too far from its original site and could detract from the war memorial already in place, it adds.  

Councillors agreed that the best place for the fountain is on the pavement on Broad Street but stressed that its exact setup won’t be the same as it appeared when the petition was published.  

There will be an extra three metres of footway adjacent to the shops, council documents say, as loading bays which have previously been occupied by vehicles round the clock will no longer be in use.  

For the avoidance of doubt, its proposed location is currently marked on Broad Street for residents to see, they add, which is 12.55m from its original location and 5.29m away from the closest shop.  

Any further away and it would be dangerously close to the road, FDC says.   

Council leader Cllr Chris Boden (Conservatives, Whittlesey East and Villages) said of the decision: “I thought I would be doing a cost-benefit analysis when looking at the various alternatives, but we already have the best solution in front of us – the one originally proposed.”  

“The cost involved for the alternatives is almost irrelevant,” he continued – as none of the suggested locations were found to be appropriate for its relocation for other reasons. 

The riverside option was initially attractive, Cllr Boden added, but it would change the nature of the war memorial and its surrounding area too much.  

The fountain is currently in storage where it’s expected to remain for around a year until works to Broad Street are complete.