Calls to restore the Victoria Fountain in Old Steine will not be answered in the immediate future, council bosses have said.
But there are plans to dismantle and repair the grade II listed fountain, with the aim of having it working again the summer after next.
The council said: “The Victoria Fountain has significant and complex structural problems. There is no easy or quick way to fix these.
“It was switched off for safety reasons. Some bolts are corroded and the existing water and electricity supplies require repair. It has been made safe temporarily.
“The structure first needs to be dismantled to be fully inspected. Even doing this is complex as there are problems with access and gauging the weight of the structure for the crane lift.
“Once this is done, repair works can be scoped, costed and then carried out. The statue will then need to be re-erected to be perfectly level using levelling bolts by crane in reverse order to the dismantling.
“Given the complexities, we intend to carry out these dismantling works during the quieter winter months.
“Once funding is confirmed, we can proceed with the remedial repairs and refurbishment of the fountain for its re-erection in summer 2023.
“Our City Parks team has been under intense pressure for more than a year now due to staff shortages causes by the pandemic.
“In addition, it is well known nationally that recruiting agency staff has become extremely difficult since the UK left the EU.
“However, we have successfully recruited some new staff and are also working with contractors to help catch up with work that has had to be delayed.
“We will be scheduling work to improve the area around the fountain as soon as we can.
“This will include addressing the problem of broken street lights.”
Yet more excuses from this incompetent council.
I’m surprised they didn’t go the full hog and blame 11 years of Tory cuts.
Meanwhile the fountain is serving its purpose as a toilet for all the drunks inhabiting the area around it – another aspect of City of Sanctuary, created and perpetuated by the Greens.
IMO They should put some temporary decorative lighting on it as it wouldn’t cost much and the days are getting shorter .
Although that would attract people to sit round it at night and a Tory Councillor would complain about in their Brighton & Hove News column saying residents hadn’t been consulted etc etc
So, who are these ‘council bosses’ exactly? Names please. Are these councillors or officers???
Fixing broken street lights (which should have been done as a matter of routine) is not at all the same thing as renovating/repairing an antique fountain and should not be mega-expensive. If you report a broken street light in other parts of town it gets fixed.
As with the Madeira Arches etc, no routine maintenance has been done for many years and so it all becomes a major drama and expense and, hey presto, we can’t afford it.
Remind me why any proper tourist would want to visit this pathetic dump.
When will the benches put back?