Volunteers at Feltham St John Ambulance are disappointed their mission to save the trough outside the old Hanworth library has failed.
For more than one year, Sally Cripps, unit manager at the Feltham branch, has been trying to get the planter moved to inside the ambulance car park, where it can be seen and looked after by its members all year round.
However, she was devastated to learn last week in an email from Hounslow council that it had been re-sited in the football club car park in Hanworth Park.
Mrs Cripps, 68, of Hounslow Road, Hanworth, who has lived in the borough since she was born, said: "I'm afraid it will now become another rubbish bin, covered in graffiti or smashed to pieces.
"I had been asking to have the trough moved to somewhere where it could be safely looked after, planted with seasonal plants, namely just inside the fence of the St John Ambulance building on the Uxbridge Road.
"It was going to be a good project for the young people of St John Ambulance.
"Hearing that it is now in a car park where nobody can see it unless they go in, it is likely to become a large rubbish bin and somewhere to spray paint with graffiti."
Mrs Cripps had grown increasingly concerned about the state of the trough as it had not been cared for since the old library building was closed, and took it upon herself to offer a final resting spot.
She was supported by the group's members and MP for Feltham and Heston Seema Malhotra who will call on the council to review decision to be reviewed.
Ms Malhotra said: “I very much support the move by St John’s Ambulance Division in Feltham who do outstanding work in our community and have a track record of volunteering to secure the horse trough which, when well looked after, would brighten up the local environment.
"I will be writing to the council to call for this decision to be reviewed, and for an explanation to be given as to the reason for its newly proposed location.”
A council spokesperson said: “The trough is a publicly owned, heritage asset and as such, must be accessible to the public. Which is why we initially wanted to reposition it on the Uxbridge Road; outside St John’s Ambulance Brigade’s premises.
“Unfortunately, the trough could not be placed there, as the Uxbridge Road is a Transport for London maintained road.
“It’s now been moved to Hanworth Park so it’s nearer to its original location outside the library and can be properly maintained.”
An angry Mrs Cripps said the council never cared for it until she requested for it to be moved, adding "as for them saying the main road is TFL remit, that is rubbish as it would have been sited inside the St John Ambulance car park, just inside the fencing.
"Far more people would have seen it there than they will in the car park. Only the dog walkers and those parking in the car park will see it, that's if they look for it.
"I had to look to see where it was and at first missed it. It is positioned behind a tree.
"It would have been looked after by the St John Ambulance young people, not left to grow weeds as it is now and with the risk of being painted by the graffiti artists in the area."
