The £6million Marble Arch Mound

• WESTMINSTER City Council’s refusal to hold an independent inquiry into the £6million Marble Arch Mound fiasco is a total disgrace.

Instead the council will be arranging an internal “inquiry” carried out by officers whose future careers at the council will be determined by the very same people who are the subject of the “inquiry”.

How can anyone have any confidence that the outcome will be anything but a farce?

We need an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of how and why the costs of the mound rose from £2million to over £6million, without anybody blowing the whistle on the council’s financial incompetence.

As recently as this May councillors were told that “the construction costs of the structure are estimated at £1.99m”.

Councillors were also told that, “There is the potential for significant income generation from the installation from various sources including entry fees, merchandise, sponsorship and tours which will be used to mitigate costs.”

Indeed the council estimated that £2.075million would be generated through ticket sales, sponsorship, catering, merchandise and private hire; hinting that the costs of building the structure would be more than covered by income.

Highlighting the “cloud-cuckoo land” nature of the council’s estimates, councillors were also told: “The income estimates from visitor sales could be significantly higher should social distancing guidelines be further relaxed over the summer.

“The income from sponsorship is also considered conservative at this stage and could be substantially higher than the estimates in the report. Officers are proactively pursuing further sponsorship opportunities and will provide regular reports on progress.”

Yet, just weeks later, these estimates have proved to be completely wrong, with costs escalating to over £6million.

The council estimated that it could pull in £450,000 in sponsorship, but only £130,000, less than a third, has been confirmed.

To add insult to injury, the executive director for growth, planning and housing has now told councillors that “it is anticipated that the total level of sponsorship will fall significantly short of that reported in the May decision.”

The council’s ticket sales estimates were “based on 280,000 visitors, over six months”, bringing in £1.525million in revenue.

There was no revenue in August because the council was forced to abandon charges as the mound was not finished and had attracted massive criticism and derision.

That’s over £250,000 of projected income lost already. Now we are told that “work is under way to establish a revised projection”.

Finally councillors have now been told that “The council’s leadership weren’t made aware of any concerns prior to opening”.

Who is trying to fool who? If nothing else, getting to the truth of why councillors Robathan, Green and Caplan are all now claiming they knew nothing about how and why the costs escalated from £2million to £6million demands an independent inquiry.

CLLR PAUL DIMOLDENBERG
Labour City Management Spokesperson
City Hall, SW1