The full cost of the demolition of the infamous Marble Arch Mound has been revealed by Westminster Council. The long-gone landmark was originally built to encourage Londoners and tourists to return to Oxford Street. Instead, it was dubbed an eyesore, and it was later revealed that the project was around three times over the original budget.
After the Conservative-controlled Westminster Council apologised for the £6 million price tag, deputy leader Melvyn Caplan was forced to resign. It spent £1.1 million on scaffolding hire, £1.4 million on sub-contractors, £100,000 on extra fences and railings and £983,000 on staff. A further £225,000 was spent on grass, flowers and trees for the project.
But now the cost of pulling down the display has now been confirmed as £660,000, which is included in the £6 million cost of building and managing the visitors to the mound. Opposition councillors have slammed the ruling Conservative party ahead of the upcoming local council elections in May, claiming that council rents and parking charges are increasing in the borough “as a result of the council’s financial incompetence”.
READ MORE: Marble Arch Mound looks worse than ever as all the plants have been removed
(Image: PA)
Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour city management spokesperson, said: “The Conservatives claim that the mound was built to attract shoppers back to Oxford Street. But less than 1,400 people a day on average visited the mound, even though it was free for the six months it was open.
“The business generated by just 1,400 people did nothing to revive Oxford Street’s shops. Indeed, before the pandemic, Oxford Street was attracting about 600,000 visitors a day.
” Boris Johnson’s Westminster Conservatives are completely out of touch with what residents want. Wasting £6 million of public money should disqualify the Conservatives from running the Council for a moment longer.
“On May, Westminster residents will have their opportunity for change when they will be able to vote for a Labour Council which puts residents first and ends the Conservative financial waste.”
In the City of Westminster, Adult Social Services are being cut by £500,000 and Mayfair Library is under threat of closure to save £200,000 a year in rent, which opposing Labour councillors also blame on the current Tory council. MyLondon has approached Westminster Conservatives for comment.
In February, the architects of the infamous mound shared the staggering inside story of ‘loveless’ hill that was ‘left to rot’. Rotterdam-based architecture company MVRDV said that the mound ended up looking nothing like its original design and that it was opened before it was even complete. It described it as a “debacle” and said it had never seen such a “loveless execution of our designs”.
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I’m Sam, a News Reporter at MyLondon with a special interest in covering court and crime. I started in September 2021, and I’m based in Ealing. You can follow my Facebook page here.
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