AddThis SmartLayers

Readers say "no" to £40m chamber

South Wales Argus readers have given a massive thumbs-down to plans for a new £40m debating chamber for the Welsh Assembly.

An exclusive Argus telephone poll took nearly 400 calls from readers in just four days.

And they voted by a 12-1 majority against the new chamber. Just 27 readers voted in favour.

Costs for the new debating chamber, to be sited in Cardiff Bay, have spiraled to more than £40m since the Assembly came into existence after the devolution referendum in Wales in 1997. Original estimates for the building were less than £20m.

Nearly £3m has already been paid to sacked architect Lord Rogers and not a brick has been laid.

Argus editor Gerry Keighley said: “We have voiced our reservations about this project many times in the past. The message from our readers to Assembly members is very clear.

“They don’t want this chamber and there is an increasing concern that it will end up being built out of bloody mindedness.”

An Assembly spokesman reacted to the Argus poll by saying the new chamber would be “a flagship building for Wales, representing our status as a new democracy playing an increasingly important role on the international stage”.

But many callers to the Argus vote line left messages demanding the money likely to be spent on building the new debating chamber be used for a children’s hospital for Wales.

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail [email protected]