Councillor says £6 million Marble Arch Mound ‘achieved what it set out to do’
By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter
The infamous Marble Arch Mound has been celebrated as a success by the council that went £4 million over budget on the landmark.
Westminster City Council spent a total of £6 million on the viewing platform to boost footfall in the West End.
The Tory-led council says the mound, which closes for good on Sunday, has done what it was supposed to do by bringing more visitors to the area.
Councillor Matthew Green, the local planning boss, told ITV News: “Ultimately, it’s achieved what it set out to do, which is to bring footfall back to Oxford Street – an area that has seen footfall slump in half.
“We have to remember that the West End employs one in eight Londoners.
“It is so important that we bring people back to this area.”
The councillor also told ITV London he regrets how much the authority overspent on the mound but does not regret that it has attracted so many people to the area.
He said 250,000 people have been to the hill in the last few months and encouraged others to come and see it before it is taken down.
The viewing platform has been branded ‘London’s worst tourist attraction’ by some who were disappointed by its lacklustre views.
A council spokesperson recently said that more than 240,000 people have come to see the mound since it opened in June.
The authority spent triple its original budget on the mound, prompting deputy leader Melvyn Caplan to resign in the summer.
It had also planned to charge people to walk up the hill but axed ticket fees once plants dropped off the surface.
Labour councillors recently revealed a top architect in charge of the flopped attraction was paid £220,000 a year – more than the £161,401 salary of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Labour councillor Paul Dimoldenberg said: “The Marble Arch Mound has been a disaster from start to finish.
“The Conservative councillors responsible for the Marble Arch Mound should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the people of Westminster for wasting so much public money.”
A review of the project found the eye-watering costs were “devastating” and “avoidable” and senior officials hid details and lied about how much money the it would make.
Council leader Rachael Robathan has previously said that while the spiralling costs of the attraction are unacceptable, it has become a ‘cult classic’, drawing in people to the West End.
Visitors have flocked to get one last peak at the hill, which is now covered in weeds.
One tourist told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he came to see it because it had become “a bit of a meme”.
A couple travelled to see it from Lincoln, branding it “an absolute waste of money”.
Contractors will start to deconstruct the 25-metre tall attraction on January 18.