Listing & Ownership Secures Medfield Street Fountain
Councillor assures it will be maintained
Medfield Street fountain was erected in 1882
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Councillor Guy Humphries, the Chair for the Wandsworth (Conservation Area) Advisory Committee has advise dthis website that the Medfield Street fountain is Grade II listed and also owned by Wandsworth Council and it therefore cannot be removed by the Drinking Fountain Association (DFA), the body that reomved the Norfield Place trough.
Alton Regeneration Watch had alerted this website to the removal of a trough which had been in Norstead Place since 1896 and they were equally concerned for the fate of Medfield Street fountain.
Cllr Humphries told this website:
"..
that the drinking fountain in Medfield Street is Grade II listed and is owned by the council, not the DFA and so I can reassure you that it will continue to be maintained and certainly not removed".
The Drinking Fountain Association (DFA) removed the trough because the charity requires that troughs/fountains "should only remain in place if it is properly maintained supplying driking water". (letter Nov 2016 to ARW).
Regarding the trough, Cllr Humphreys, pictured above told this website:
"I was very upset when I heard that the trough on Norstead Place had been removed, without reference to the Council".
He continued:
"The council has in recent months been updating our list of heritage assets, with the valued help of our local amenity societies, so it is particularly galling when something like this occurs contrary to our best efforts to preserve the historic fabric of our borough".
A spokesperson for Alton Regeneration Watch responded:
"Thank you to PutneySW15 for raising the profile of the fountains, this is much appreciated. It is excellent that the fate of the Medfield Street fountains should not meet the same fate as the Norstead Place fountain. However, there is a need for a call to action by the Council to look after this Grade II listed local icon rather than let it fall into a state of poor maintenance only to be flagged by local residents. We are aware that a local resident has raised these concerns directly with Historic England, then with Councillor Humphries whom has yet to provide the resident with an acknowledgment".
December 5, 2016