00:00Can I just go up here?
00:02Yeah. I mean, it's not on. No one's gonna stop me.
00:08Afternoon Sheffield. I hope you're right. It's Alistair from the Sheffield Star
00:11and I'm sat in the fountains at the Peace Gardens to talk to you about the fountains at the Peace Gardens.
00:16As you've probably heard by now, there is a hosepipe ban on its way for Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Sheffield in general.
00:22After the warmest, driest spring on record and after only 15 centimetres of rain in this summer so far,
00:28which is far, far below what it's meant to be, Yorkshire Water is imposing a temporary use ban,
00:32also known as a hosepipe ban, for the county.
00:35This means that residents aren't allowed to use hosepipes that are connected to a water main.
00:41That's the underlying rule. The idea is to stop wastage of water by asking residents to control how much water they use
00:47using watering cans, not to fill up their hot tubs or paddling pools or anything else with a hose
00:52that might just uncontrollably splay water and put it all to waste.
00:56I wanted to know how the hosepipe ban would interact with one of the staples of summertime in Sheffield,
01:03which is whether the fountains in the Peace Gardens will be running.
01:06This is a staple of summertime in Sheffield. This is the fountains in the Peace Gardens.
01:11They jet up from the floor. They make a great free family fun day out for families
01:15and it's just marked by lots of kids running around shrieking in the city centre,
01:19which is what we all want to see and it gets people out and about, you know.
01:22Yeah, but with a hosepipe ban on the way, I had the idea that they might be turning us off.
01:25So I went to the city council to ask them what their plans are for the Peace Garden fountains during the hosepipe ban.
01:31The council have the opportunity to do the funniest thing right now.
01:37Well, as you can see, I'm currently sat in the middle of the fountains here in city centre and they are dry as a bone.
01:43They've not been switched on and that's going to be the case most weekdays until the hosepipe ban ends.
01:49So the underlying thing to know is that the Sheffield City Council is exempt from the hosepipe ban.
01:53It only really applies to domestic and residential properties.
01:56The idea that the council would have to, say, water the winter gardens or the botanical gardens with only a watering can is just and reasonable.
02:03And all of those plants would die without sprinklers and hosepipes in play.
02:08They've got a lot of commercial duties they need to perform that involve hosepipes as well.
02:13So by and large, local authorities exempt from the hosepipe ban.
02:17However, the council have said they want to do everything they can to try and save water in the city during this time.
02:22And so they've given some guidance on what they're going to do with the Peace Garden fountains.
02:25So here's how they're going to run things.
02:27So the fountains are going to be switched off during the weekday in school terms.
02:32So until schools break up, the fountains that I'm sat in right now, and as you can see, are going to be dry as a bone
02:38because the use case for anyone wanting to be there is far, far less.
02:42However, I mean, until school break up, they will turn them on for the weekends, of course.
02:47They want to see people out in the city centre. They want to see children enjoying themselves.
02:50So the fountains will be switched on during the weekends until schools break up.
02:53And you can probably see where this is going.
02:55Schools break up on July 23rd, at which point they'll be switched on more or less permanently.
03:00During the school holidays and the weekends, for the enjoyment of all the children and all the families in the city centre,
03:05the fountains will be switched back on as normal.
03:07So hosepipe ban is on the way.
03:09However, how does this translate to people being able to cool off and enjoy themselves here in the city centre?
03:14Practically no effect, unless you want to come out during the weekday when schools are still in session.
03:18Their reasoning for this is that the fountains more or less use the same water over and over again.
03:24Of course, there's going to be some loss there, but they're not really directly connected to the mains as we would understand it.
03:29Same as the Barker's Pool fountain, it more or less recycles and pumps the same water over and over again.
03:34So the loss of water, the case for that, is far, far less.
03:38I mean, while we're on topic as well, the Barker's Pool fountains will be running as normal as well,
03:42because they completely recycle their water. There's barely any loss there.
03:45However, the fountains at the train station, which I've seen have been shut off for quite a few weeks,
03:49will remain shut off pretty much throughout the hosepipe ban because the loss of water they incur is far, far greater.
03:55So the council is going to just turn those off until further notice.
03:58Anyway, that was a frequently asked question I was receiving.
04:01The hosepipe ban is on the way, but the fountains in the city centre, as far as school holidays go,
04:06will be running as normal and won't really be affected by the hosepipe ban.
04:10Only when schools are in session will they be switched off, and that's only during the weekdays.
04:14There's no telling how long the hosepipe ban is going to last.
04:17The last one that we had in 2022 remained in place until December because it's only really turned off,
04:25if that's the right phrase.
04:27The hosepipe ban is only really lifted once there's been enough rain to sufficiently fill the reservoirs to lift the crisis, I guess.
04:34So we may be sat with this for a long time unless there's a great deal of rainfall this year to undo it,
04:39but that will be the case from here on out.
04:41I guess that's a great question.
04:46All right.
04:47I'll do it again.
04:49It's not a great question.
04:50That's my turn.
04:51It's a great question.
04:52That was a great question.
04:53It helped us treatilera.
04:54That's the viewfinder or how excited it did today.
04:55The only time we do the ground with lift item to lift the highway.
04:56We'll do it.
04:57We'll continue to leave the customer aid and fill it out.
04:58It's right.
04:59Thanks, everyone, from me.
05:00Hopefully, the engine thought the road was brought up and pull it out.
05:01I really don't get T!, but it will not be made for a long time now.
05:04And gets all because the lights running out.
05:05I really do.
05:06We'll have to go.
05:07Happy yesterday.
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