Call for inquiry into £1m Quantum Leap costs

A Shropshire councillor has called for an inquiry into the costs of the controversial Quantum Leap sculpture.

Councillor Jon Tandy, who has been a long-standing campaigner against the project, said he wants to see an external investigation into what has happened with the project.

Shropshire Council was recently hit with a further £525,000 bill for the project after it lost a legal battle with Alun Griffiths Contractors over who should pay for the extra costs incurred when construction was delayed.

Councillor Tandy said: "I would love to have an inquiry. I think it should be done by the district auditor on how the money has been spent – so many questions need to be asked. The district auditor needs to be brought in to see if we have had value for money."

Councillor Tandy is one of the organisers of a public protest about the cost of the statue that will be taking place beside the Quantum Leap next Saturday between 10am and 1pm.

"I haven't got a clue how many will be there but hope people do come and show that they want to have a say in the choices the council are making," he said.

"We are all taxpayers, this is our money. Where is the accountability? Why wasn't there a public consultation? Where were the people saying this is what we want to spend our money on?"

Responsibility

The Quantum Leap project originally started by officials at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council before responsibility was passed on to Shropshire Council when the former authority was dissolved in 2009. During the summer of that year problems were discovered with the alignment of the ribs which had to be corrected and led to a delay in the project, which was eventually completed in March 2010.

Following a ruling by an independent adjudicator that the fault lay with an 'inadequate design specification', SABC was deemed liable for the delay, with Shropshire Council left to pick up a tab that included a £410,000 payment to Alun Griffiths Contractors and legal costs of £115,000.

Last week, Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council cabinet member for health and well-being, said the council were 'extremely disappointed' with the adjudicator's decision.

He said: "This was an extremely complex build and at the time when problems occurred, we couldn't leave the structure as it was. Therefore, we were left with no choice but to see the project through to completion and correct the problem."