Kettering town centre fountains switched on for summer before permanent repairs later in year
Kettering’s Market Place fountains have been switched back on in time for the summer holidays and hopefully hot weather.
With Kettering by the Sea due to take place for three weeks in August, temporary repairs have allowed the popular installation to function once more.
Children – and their parents and carers – will be able to enjoy the sights and sounds of Kettering Market Place while cooling off in the watery jets.
Kettering families have been making the most of their time off school – but the fountains are due to be ‘decommissioned’ at the end of August when further work will be carried out.
Mum Clare Potts was watching her children Eddie, six, and three-year-old Toby play in the fountain with schoolfriend Jay Winfield, also six.
She said: “It’s brilliant there’s something free to do. We will be coming down to Kettering by the Sea every day.”
Robert Winfield, Jay’s dad, said: “I love it. I live around the corner and it’s fantastic, especially with the economic situation. We can come down with a picnic.”
Another Kettering mum, Lyndsey Linford, was visiting the town centre fountains with her son Elliott, aged seven.
She added: “It’s beautiful. I brought my son down. It’s good to see them back on. There’s not many free things to do for the children. It’s good to see our council tax going on something for the kids.”
When the fountains were first installed in 2009 after the Market Place redesign by the now defunct Kettering Borough Council, the jets shot up to a metre in the air.
But a long-term problem with the system has reduced them to no more than an ankle-high dribble – gallons of water stored in an underground tank could be leaking out.
A spokesman for North Northants Council (NNC) said: “The fountain was recommissioned for the summer event in the Market Square. Further works are now required to fully repair the system, which may have an impact on the water pressure. The fountain will be decommissioned at the end of August to undertake all necessary works in the Market Square to address the issue.
“The council (NNC) is in discussion with Anglian Water on arrangements for the work and will provide more detail of the timing of those work when able.”