MP calls for inquiry into £600,000 spent on plans for skyscraper

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald condemned the money spent on the Boho X project, which he said had cost in excess of £600,000 before being scaled back as a result of coronavirus.

Last month, mayor Andy Preston announced the plans for the 260ft building at Middlehaven, which would have been the biggest skyscraper between Newcastle and Leeds, were going to be reviewed.

• Plans for Middlesbrough's Boho X are 'under review'

Mr McDonald said a recent Freedom of Information request had shown the plans, design and marketing for the tower had cost in excess of £600,000.

He said: “These revelations are quite staggering. Let’s put it in perspective – mayor Andy Preston is considering introducing fortnightly bin collection to Middlesbrough. The money wasted on this vanity project would have paid for weekly bin collection twice over. It is ludicrous that £600,000 of taxpayers’ money has been thrown away on the whim of the mayor."

How the Boho X "plan B" could look

Calling for an inquiry, he added: "Now the mayor has returned to planning a deliverable and ambitious low-rise building along the lines of those set out by the previous Labour council. Andy Preston needs to learn – the council is not one of his business interests that he can dictate to.

"There are consequences to his actions, consequences he has scandalously ignored in this case and it has cost local people dearly. This amateur approach leaves the mayor over-promising and under-delivering.

"Save the dramatic, brash language and just get the job done without burning through £600,000 of our money.”

Responding, Mr Preston said: “Despite the world-changing arrival of Covid, Middlesbrough's ambition is unmoved and in Boho X we will deliver the very best office building for miles around - filling it with bright and energetic creative enterprises.

“The impact of Covid has changed the role of offices in the workplace, so it’s right that we have adapted our plans to reflect a new era - only a fool would carry on as though nothing has changed.  I know that Mr McDonald knows nothing about job creation or business but he should start educating himself.

“Our revised building will now cost about £20m instead of the £30m for the pre-Covid tower and it will be more suitable for distancing and wellbeing.

“Most of the costs in preparing for the first building are absorbed into plans for the new building, so Mr McDonald’s comments appear to be an another example of him spreading incorrect facts to score political points.

“After decades of decline, Middlesbrough is now turning a corner, with lower crime, more police action and more ambition.  I urge Mr McDonald to be honest and positive. He should drop the point-scoring - it’s embarrassing.”