Foul drain issue and ‘lack of will’ cited as holding up Bury St Edmunds splash fountain project on Moreton Hall

A project to bring a splash fountain for children to Bury St Edmunds has ‘stalled’.

There were hopes the facility, to be located off Airfield Road on Moreton Hall, could have been operational by summer 2022, but two years on the scheme has not been completed.

At a Bury St Edmunds Town Council meeting last December a grant application for £65,000 for the project was considered, but councillors had numerous questions – including over the increased cost of the scheme - and it was resolved for the initiative to come back to the council in due course.

However, it is yet to come back to town council for discussion.

Bury St Edmunds Town Clerk Jodie Budd told SuffolkNews it was currently ‘paused’ while the situation regarding the foul drain – also known as a waste drain - was resolved.

She said the splash fountain was reliant on a foul drain and Anglian Water won’t permit the installation for this specific purpose because it is tasked with trying to conserve water and reduce waste water.

However, it is understood that if a toilet block was put in, a foul drain would be installed.

Cllr Birgitte Mager, who has been working to bring the project to fruition, said this was why toilets were put forward as part of the scheme at the town council meeting in December, as well as the idea for a cafe facility.

She said it was ‘unbelievably disappointing’ the project had ‘stalled’.

Cllr Mager, a town councillor and West Suffolk councillor for Moreton Hall, said: “As a councillor you get elected in wanting to improve and move forward the ward that you represent. I was asked for two things when I was voted in and the fountain was by far the biggest [issue].

“There were almost 3,000 people who had requested this through the Facebook campaign and that had obviously gone on for many years, but the council haven’t yet found a way to see it to fruition.”

Private funding has already gone into the project and the town council agreed to fund the maintenance management of the facility, located on West Suffolk Council land near Flying Fortress Park, once it was up and running, up to a cost of £10,000 per year.

Moreton Hall Youth Action Group submitted the grant application for £65,000 for the project and Leon Edwards, of the group, spoke at the time of his vision including toilets and changing rooms and a tuk tuk providing tea and coffee, with young people having a central role in their development.

Cllr Mager said the scheme needed to come back to town council and the town council ‘needs to embrace it’.

She said she had wanted to create ‘a legacy’ – something that would benefit not just Moreton Hall, but the town and visitors as well.

“It was going to be a really big attraction, just like in Newmarket, Haverhill, and in many other places. We are not providing it.

“I’m disappointed, but I’m still hopeful, but we might have to wait for a change in administration.”

Cllr Peter Thompson, county councillor for Eastgate and Moreton Hall, said it was ‘disappointing’ new hurdles were in the way of the scheme, considering architect’s drawings had been created and the water company had been consulted about the project throughout.

He believes it is still a ‘deliverable’ project, but there needed to be the will to do it.

He said: “It’s clear that since the project there has been a shift in political decision making on both West Suffolk and town council and we have also seen a background of these big ticket-type investments being pulled, for example the leisure centre, so against the background of that it’s not particularly surprising the project has had some difficulties.”

He added: “Whenever we try to put something in for Moreton Hall there are barriers.”

Moreton Hall resident Andy McGowan, who has three children under the age of six, said he understood the pressures on council finances, but it was ‘disappointing’ the project was on hold and other funding options, like crowdfunding, didn’t appear to have been considered.

He said it was a ‘huge opportunity’ to bring something really new not just to Moreton Hall, but to Bury.

“If you think about the amount of housing and schools in the area, there’s clearly demand for it,” he said. “It would bring people into the area to use it.”

Cllr Mager said the last bit of money for the project needed to be raised.

She added: “We want it to move forward and we want to find one or two people on Moreton Hall to help people to spur it forward.”

Town clerk Mrs Budd said: “Once the situation regarding the water and foul drain is resolved, then I’m sure the town council will look at the project, in detail, again.”