Council spends £36 million on ‘abysmal’ revamp of metropolis centre as residents furious
Plymouth City Council unveiled the latest phase of its regeneration of the city, but residents are furious as they argue the council is focusing resources in the wrong place
Shoppers have been left fuming after a council spent more than £36million on a city centre regeneration project branded “abysmal”. Livid locals slammed Plymouth City Council after it unveiled the revamp, including rusty metal plates and a stream with no running water.
Back in 2023, the original plans sparked outrage after the then-Conservative council chopped down more than 100 trees in one night as part of the project.
But last month’s unveiling ceremony left city centre visitors fuming at the latest stage of the tragic transformation, which had also seen the cost balloon from its original budget of £12.7million to £36.8million, almost three times as much as first planned.
According to the Daily Mail, plans for the next stage of the city’s transformation has seen the installation of concrete benches and rusty metal plates as part of the new look.
On top of this, there are plans to have a new stream run through the city, but it may not have any water coming into it until at least late next year.
In total, as many as 90 workers are on hand carrying out transformation work on sites across the city seven days a week, in what has been billed as the largest regeneration projects anywhere in the UK.
However, residents and shoppers alike are already getting fed up of the consistent disruptions and amazed at how much it has already cost.
Laura Walker, 38, said: “Why did the council hold an opening ceremony just for this section? What happened to getting on with the rest of it?
“They’ve spent millions of pounds of our money to block off the road for two years, chop down 100 perfectly good trees, pour a load of concrete everywhere, put up some rusty metal and dig a stream then plant some new trees. And now it looks worse than before.”
Lee Broadbent, 61, said: “As somebody who pays their council tax I’ve seen my local area deteriorate while they spend £30million here and another £6million in Central Park. I haven’t come into the town centre much since 2020, I don’t often shop here, and this won’t really change that.”
And local Cllr Steve Ricketts said he was “lost for words” as the cost for the authority continue to rise. Speaking to PlymouthLive, he said: “It’s abysmal — complete madness.”
Plymouth’s previous regeneration schemes have also not gone down well with local residents, and also did not help to boost footfall in the area.
A revamp of the city’s Old Town Street and New George Street ran into multiple issues and spiralling costs, with £18million being shelfed out, despite an initial estimate of just £7million.
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