Marble Arch Mound cost three times original estimate including extra £200,000 for plants

By Hannah Neary, Local Democracy Reporter

The Marble Arch Mound ran hugely over budget as plants cost an extra £200,000 when they dropped off in the summer.

Westminster City council spent £225,000 on extra grass, flowers and trees, the a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found.

The spend is labelled as “supplementary landscaping” for the fake hill designed by Dutch architects MVRDV.

It opened in the summer but closed shortly after when plants fell off the surface, causing ticket sales to be scrapped.

The council also spent £1.1 million on hiring scaffolding, £1.4 million on sub-contractors, £100,000 on extra fences and railings and £983,000 on staff.

Labour councillor Paul Dimoldenberg said: “These figures show that the original costings for the mound given to councillors earlier this year were a total fiction.

“The true costs of the mound were three times the original estimate and these figures were hidden from Labour councillors and public scrutiny.

“This fiasco has exposed the council’s incompetence.

“No one can trust Westminster Conservatives with public money ever again.”

The mound was designed to boost footfall to the West End but cost triple its initial budget and has been dubbed “London’s worst attraction”.

It will close on January 9 before being taken down completely.

Council planning chief Matthew Green said: “The council delivers hundreds of projects worth tens of millions every year and it does this on time and on budget.

“The Marble Arch Mound is doing what we always intended it to do – bring people back into this part of London.

“Over 200,000 people have now visited the Mound and the light show inside, which is proving to be a runaway success.

“We would urge everyone to go and see it before it closes in January.”

A report published in October revealed top council staff ignored warnings about the spiralling costs of the project, which were “devastating and avoidable”.

The council’s chief executive Stuart Love previously said: “A series of errors in judgement, coupled with a lack of sufficient oversight, led to a failure of project management on the mound.

“We did not meet our own high standards on this project and for that I apologise again.

“Westminster City Council manages projects worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year to a high standard and within budget, and they are unaffected by issues surrounding the mound.

“We will continue our efforts to revive Westminster’s economy post-pandemic and to ensure our residents continue to receive first class services.”