Diana fountain slammed
Tuesday, 21 Mar 2006 10:00
Diana fountain slammed
The fountain built to commemorate Princess Diana has come under sharp criticism from MPs.
Members of the public accounts select committee sharply criticised the memorial, which has been plagued with problems.
Today's comments are contained in a report into the management of the royal parks, which include Hyde Park and St James Park.
It catalogues how the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain has had to be closed on multiple occasions due to flooding and people slipping in and around the memorial.
In addition, the costs have risen to £5.2 million, exceeding the original budget of £3 million. The MPs warn that the royal parks agency will be responsible for estimated maintenance of £250,000 a year, which will divert resources from its other work.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the agency was blameless in this regard.
"It has been saddled with an annual bill of a quarter of a million pounds to maintain the ill-conceived and ill-executed memorial fountain for Diana, Princess of Wales," Mr Leigh said.
"This so-called water feature will literally be a drain on the resources of the royal parks agency for years to come. This is a typical example of the great and good airily embarking on a prestige project which will take away money badly needed for the upkeep of national recreational facilities enjoyed by millions."
Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said that lessons must be learnt for any forthcoming memorials.
"While the fountain is only dribbling, taxpayers’ money is gushing out of the royal parks’ accounts. The cost of the fountain has risen and the maintenance costs are huge," Mr Foster said.
"Proposals for a memorial to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother must take heed of the practicalities as well as the ideals of such projects."
In response, the department for culture, media and sport stressed that the fountain was extremely popular with visitors and lessons had been learnt.
"Around 800,000 people have visited the fountain since it re-opened in May 2005, and we expect many more to do so in the future, putting it among the UK's top visitor attractions," the department said in a statement.
"The costs of building the memorial reflect that it is built to last, of high quality Cornish granite that will still be standing in 200 years. Large numbers of visitors enjoy the memorial free of charge and its maintenance costs amount to only around 25p per visitor."
