Town councillors have this week agreed to spend over £2,800 on repairs and upgrades to Burnham-On-Sea’s town centre water fountain after being told about its deteriorating condition.
At a meeting of the council’s Town Improvements Committee on Monday (September 11th), councillors unanimously agreed to proceed with “much needed” upgrades costing £2,835.60. The water feature is at the junction of Abingdon Street and Old Station Approach.
Cllr Mike Facey said: “The whole water feature is an embarrassment for the council. The quicker we repair it the better.”
Cllr James Warren told councillors: “The pump has stopped working and cannot be repaired. When inspected, it was found the pump is down to earth on the electrical windings and below the safety electrical guidelines, so the pump cannot be used and requires replacing.”
“There is an electrical water inlet valve that is faulty and always passing water and this
requires replacing. There is a junction box that isn`t waterproof, so a new electrical junction box is required.”
“Both of the control floats are faulty and they will require replacing. The water chamber is quite dirty and to ensure we comply with legionella risk assessment the chamber will need to be emptied and cleaned and some chlorination tablets added.”
He added: “The cost of the works is £2,835.60. We have not been able to find many companies that provide this service but did apply for three quotations, however only one has been received.”
“We are currently nearing the full use of the budget due to many issues with the water feature and repairs needed. If the Committee decided to agree this quotation, it would be subject to approval by Council as the expenditure would exceed the allocated budget.”
Cllr Peter Clayton said: “It sounds quite a lot, but this is pretty much everything to put it right and back together again, almost back to a new fountain. It will need a new clean and I don’t see it as a big issue to getting it sorted – it’s an area that is regularly used by people. I am fully supportive of getting it fixed.”
Cllr Facey added that he “completely agrees” with the work and added: “People needn’t worry about Legionella though – the water temperature is far below what is needed for it to be there.”
Cllr Ganesh Gudka added: “I can’t see we have any option here – there’s no choice really.”
The final decision on the spending will be made by the full Town Council when it meets later this month.
