Oxford Street: Marble Arch Mound overspend prompts review

Crowds of shoppers on Oxford Street in London, with a red double decker bus visible in the background.

The review will look to learn lessons from previous efforts to improve Oxford Street

Plans for the future of Oxford Street will be independently reviewed following the overspend on the much-ridiculed Marble Arch Mound.

More than £35m has been spent on regenerating the area in recent years, including £6m on the failed attraction.

The artificial hill opened incomplete and over budget in July last year, and was pulled down in January.

The review will look at plans for future improvements and lessons to be learned from what has been done so far.

Dominic Lipinski/PA Media

The Mound was created during the pandemic in a bid to draw more people into central London

It will be led by former chief executive of Camden Council Mike Cooke, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Westminster City Council leader Adam Hug said: "Upon taking office our administration had significant concerns about the level of progress on the Oxford Street District Programme over recent years.

"So in addition to taking steps to move the project forwards, we feel an independent review of the Oxford Street District Programme will allow us to ensure any lessons are learned and shared across the council, further strengthening the delivery of this important work and other projects.

"We remain committed to working with residential communities, local businesses and also our strategic partners, with a new tightened focus on introducing public realm improvements to Oxford Street itself which we will share next week."

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The Marble Arch Mound prompted scathing reactions, being branded a "monstrosity" and a "disgrace".

Westminster Council's then-deputy leader Melvyn Caplan, who was responsible for the project, resigned from his role after total costs nearly tripled from an initial forecast of £2m.

Since then plans to create a piazza at Oxford Circus and to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street have been rejected by the local authority.

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