Council considers moving cascade water fountain

Derby City Council leader Nadine Peatfield has said the authority is considering moving a city centre water fountain from its current location.

The cascade fountain, which was installed in 1995 in Market Place, was switched off in 2017 due to running costs. It was then restarted a year later before being shut off in July 2019 due to health and safety concerns over its plant room.

Speaking to the BBC, Peatfield said turning it back on would require "some considerable investment".

But she added the fountain could be moved as part of the wider development of the area in the future.

As a result of a competition organised by the Public Art Commissions Agency, British sculptor William Pye was invited by Derby City Council to create a water sculpture as a centrepiece of the refurbished Market Place in 1993.

The fountain is a York stone structure which supports a semi-circular cascade of free-falling water, which pours over a bronze weir with green patina.

Peatfield said the fountain was part of wider discussions about the regeneration of the area - including the demolition of the Assembly Rooms and work to reopen the nearby Guildhall Theatre.

"There's still a decision to be made as to whether [the fountain] stays where it is.

"We have to work with the original architect and designer of it to see if we are going to move it somewhere else.

"It's all up in the air; it's all possibilities at the moment. If we were going to switch it on again, it would take some considerable investment.

"We need to make sure that we're looking at the wider picture, the entire Market Place, make a decision on whether it's going to stay or whether it would move and then we'll make the investment that's needed," she said.

In the same area, the city council approved a plan to demolish the Assembly Rooms - a music venue which closed permanently after a fire in 2014 - last month.

The site was originally earmarked for demolition in 2024 but this was postponed due to planning concerns.

In January, the council said the reopening of Derby's Guildhall Theatre had been pushed back due to a delay in signing off a funding agreement.

The 19th Century venue in Market Place closed in January 2019 due to safety concerns.

Plans to restore and reopen the Grade II listed building were announced in 2024 after the government allocated £10m towards the £25m project.

Derby City Council had hoped to reopen the venue by Christmas 2027 but this has been pushed back.

Listen to BBC Radio Derby on Sounds and follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.