Last week’s re-opening of a restored drinking water fountain on Trafalgar Square falls short of Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s promised “era of public fountains”, according to London Assembly Member Darren Johnson.
The drinking water fountain on the east side of Trafalgar Square, which was originally installed in 1860, has been restored to full working order allowing visitors to the square access to free, clean water.
Commenting last week, Mayor Johnson said: “It is fantastic news that a refreshing gulp of free London tap water is now available to the millions of people who visit Trafalgar Square every year.”
“Many old drinking fountains lie dormant and I hope this newly restored feature helps to untap a new trend in civic planning. We will be working to encourage this through our own programmes to improve London’s public spaces.”
However Darren Johnson said although he welcomed the Trafalgar Square fountain “it does very little for London residents in their parks and local public spaces. Installing water fountains in parks and public spaces would provide free water and help to discourage people from buying plastic water bottles.”
