September 2021
There were no queues – no surprises there then – and after a cursory bag check I climbed the 130 steps to the 25 metre viewing platform with the handful of others who had showed up. Walking up the hill reminded me of the opening title sequence of the Teletubbies dancing through a grass covered mountain except this grass is really ugly. The planned “lush landscape of thick vegetation, dotted with mature trees” was nowhere to be seen. The side of the structure is covered in a thin unsightly white tarpaulin, presumably to conceal the scaffolding which holds it up, and despite the immersive hidden light exhibition at the end, there is a reason the project has been dubbed “London’s worst attraction” – because it is! It actually looks like a year 11 DT project gone badly wrong. I’m not surprised those who first visited when it opened in July demanded a refund – there is nothing to see except a bunch of scaffolded building sites and quite a nice aerial view of Hyde Park. I thought the whole thing was an expensive embarrassment with my only positive takeaway being the activity alert buzzing on my wrist telling me I’d climbed loads of stairs!
This ridiculous eyesore was the brainchild of the Conservative Deputy Leader of Westminster City Council who has since “resigned” after budgeted project costs spiralled out of control. Apparently he thought it would draw Netflix weary Lockdowners out of their burrows back into the West End to spend their money in Oxford Street, eat out at restaurants and go back to the theatre. How did a pile of earth supported by megatons of scaffolding covered in brown turf and wilting saplings end up costing £6million or even the £2 million first reported? How will these costs be recovered since they were forced to waive the admission fee in the wake of a tsunami of complaints? The official website lists corporate partners who have been persuaded to support the project. I doubt their contributions will touch the sides given the exorbitant costs.
I hear there’s now a meeting scheduled for Wednesday to discuss whether it should be knocked down completely following protests from outraged opposition councillors at Westminster City Council. The damage is done whether it stays or not or whether they cover it in twinkly lights at Christmas. What really bothers me though about this reckless stupidity is that we have serious issues that need sorting in London and squandering public money on rubbish like this is outrageous and irresponsible in the extreme.
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