Oxford Street: Plans to make shopping area more exciting redrafted

Plans to make Oxford Street "more exciting" are being redrafted after earlier ones were axed.

Previously, when the Conservatives led Westminster City Council, the budget was £120m to develop the area.

But last May, the party lost control of the council to Labour, which has been working on a new vision for the street.

Labour says the failed Marble Arch mound project, which at £6m was three times over budget, meant it had to revise the budget.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said at a budget meeting, it was detailed that the Tories, who had run the council for 58 years, had spent £35.7m on the overall Oxford Street project before the review was launched.

Plans to create two temporary pedestrian piazzas on either side of Oxford Circus have also been shelved.

Labour's plans for Oxford Street are in the design stage and details of what the road will look like are expected to be revealed in the coming months, the meeting heard.

Westminster's deputy chief executive Bernie Flaherty told councillors they would know by April how much the scheme would cost.

She added the plans would make the street "much more exciting" and would "make the street touristy and commercial."

In total, the council is expected to spend £2.7bn in the next five years, in keeping with how much has been spent in previous years, the budget scrutiny meeting heard.

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