Let’s talk about the fountains.

They are due to be switched back on officially on Saturday, 16th March, by the Mayor, as part of the council’s Spring Fun event.

Chess players speak of a move called “zugzwang” where all options offer the player an unfavourable reaction.  Sometimes you get this in politics too.

Try and do the right thing and legally reclaim the money (which we tried, but unfortunately proved impossible on this occasion) the council gets accused of not being able to fix anything.

Go ahead, and have people complain “what a waste of money”.  Frequently the same people.

The council has a duty to maintain the public realm.  Aside from the fountains’ contribution in improving the Square’s appearance for everyone,  they also bring in visitors.  We estimate they bring in tens of thousands additional visits a month to the Town Centre, particularly during summer.

The fountains were originally built with grant funding we secured, but the dilemma was leaving them broken or removing them would have been an even bigger waste.  Every care will be taken to ensure they don’t get damaged again.

Some people are keen to denigrate the town centre offer, but retail is in a very challenging position. There will inevitably be setbacks, so anything we can do to encourage trade remains essential.

There is also a misconception that Crawley Borough Council controls the town centre and its shops.  In fact, virtually all are privately owned.

We collect the business rates, but the amounts charged are determined by Central Government, not us.  The calculation of rates is massively outdated and unfair for town centre retail and one a future Labour government is pledged to reform.

But we’re far from complacent.  We have just begun a large scale improvement of the Western Boulevard part of town, we are now in public consultation on the major regeneration of the Station Gateway and the Martlets and this summer we will unveil plans to improve the market’s offer and its location.

All these things will hopefully keep the town centre a vibrant and attractive place to visit for years to come.

Cllr Michael Jones,

Leader, Crawley Borough Council