§ 2.55 p.m.
§ Lord Peyton of Yeovilasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the likely cost of the millennium dome, when will it be completed, and what means of transport will be available to those who are expected to visit the site.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, the overall cash budget of the New Millennium Experience at Greenwich and the associated national programme is £758 million. That includes allowances for inflation and contingencies. Costs attributable to individual components of the project are subject to contractual negotiation. They will be published in the accounts of the New Millennium Experience Company Limited at the appropriate time.
The dome structure is planned to be completed in September 1998. Installation of internal structures and content is planned to be completed in September 1999. There will be a wide variety of public transport modes for visitors to choose, including the new Jubilee Line station next to the experience site and river services from central London.
§ Lord Peyton of YeovilMy Lords, how did a new Government, not all that respectful of the ideas and plans of their predecessor, pick up on this one? The project is extremely expensive, not easy to reach and there is uncertainty as to what it will contain. Is not the Minister a little apprehensive that this huge project could turn out to be just a massive monument to the conceit and vanity of those who conceived and constructed it?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, it would not be appropriate for me to intrude on disagreements 1222 within the Conservative Party. Other disagreements within the Conservative Party are perhaps more in the public eye at the moment. However, the noble Lord will be aware that we carried out a review of the millennium dome project when we came to office in May. The Cabinet concluded that, first, it would be a considerable waste of the money already spent if we abandoned it at that stage. Secondly, it concluded that there were enormous advantages to be gained from a project which I can say without fear of contradiction will be the greatest millennium project in the world. It will trumpet out the virtues and plans of this country for the next millennium.
§ Lord StrabolgiMy Lords, can my noble friend say what is the anticipated life of the millennium dome? How long is it expected to last?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, I like that idea. The dome is to be built of PTFE—polytetrafluoroethylene. The oldest building of that material is in California and was built in 1973. It is still in extremely good condition so the dome will have a life of at least 24 years. The steel structure is planned to have a life of 60 years.
§ Lord MarshMy Lords, can the Minister give the House some indication, if this extraordinary project is successful, of the expected increase in traffic on a journey which takes in excess of one hour—I speak as a former Member of Parliament for the area—through one of the most crowded areas of London?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, visitors will not be allowed to take their cars to the site. The only parking will be for coaches. The vast bulk of the visitors to the site will go by public transport, including the new Jubilee Line, park and ride facilities at all points of the compass and river transport.
§ Lord MarshMy Lords, perhaps I did not express myself properly. I am simply asking for an estimate of the increased road traffic to be generated. The Government must have one.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, there will be no increased road traffic at the site other than coaches.
§ Lord MarshThat is road traffic, my Lords.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, perhaps I may try to explain to the noble Lord. The total estimated number of people going on any day will be 30,000 to 40,000. The capacity planned for is 75,000. Even that is not individuals; and even if they were all in coaches, it is not a very large number.
§ Lord Dean of BeswickMy Lords, my noble friend at the Dispatch Box gave details of what the building costs will be. However, history shows us that prestige 1223 projects like this, while they start off with a bang and are initially financially successful, very often turn out to be financial albatrosses. If that turns out to be the case with this project, who will pick up the bill? Will it be the Government or the new London authority?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, there is no suggestion of the new London authority picking up any part of the bill. The project is cash limited. It is on time and it is within budget.
§ Earl RussellMy Lords, does the Minister agree that £758 million is a considerable sum of public money? Does he further agree that, if that money were instead devoted to capital investment in London Underground, first, he might get better value for money and, secondly, there would be a greater likelihood that the second half of his Answer about the availability of public transport might turn out to be true?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, I do not know what the noble Earl's definition of public money is. The only part of millennium experience money that is coming from the taxpayer is for the regeneration of the ground, which is being carried out by English Partnerships. The rest of it, as he knows, will come from the Lottery, private sponsorship and ticket sales and merchandising. As to the alternative of spending more money on public transport, the Jubilee Line, which is the principal component of the transport access to the dome, is indeed a permanent contribution to capital expenditure on transport in London.
§ Baroness RawlingsMy Lords, can the Minister tell the House how much money has so far been raised by IMG?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, it is a chicken and egg situation. A whole series of projects have been put forward to be contained in the dome other than the central experience, which is the responsibility of Sir Cameron Mackintosh. Eleven of the 22 proposals which came in are being worked up. Until that has been completed and they can be made public it is difficult to raise money other than by doing what IMG is doing at the moment, which is working on a sponsorship strategy. However, we know that we have staunch support from the original private supporters of the dome, particularly British Airways and British Telecom.
§ Baroness RawlingsMy Lords, how much money?
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, does my noble friend agree that our ancestors were infinitely wiser when they built Stonehenge?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, Stonehenge will undoubtedly last longer and will outlive anything that we do at the dome or elsewhere for the millennium.
§ The Earl of LauderdaleMy Lords, what will the dome do for any of us? What on earth are all the people going to do when they get there?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, the proposals for the inside of the dome are of two kinds. First, there is the experience itself, which is being worked on by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and John Napier. That will be an in-the-round 10,000-seat auditorium, probably several times a day. Around that there will be a whole series of exhibitions and interactive experiences. None of us knows yet in detail what they will be, but I shall gladly write to the noble Earl about the themes for them.
§ The Earl of LauderdaleMy Lords, will any of these exhibitions have anything to do with the founder of Christianity?
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, as I explained in an answer to the noble Lord, Lord Elton, earlier this year, the spiritual aspects of the dome are the responsibility of a Lambeth working group, which is ensuring—this may not be satisfactory to the noble Earl himself—that there are representatives of all Christian faiths, and others, who observe the Gregorian calendar.
§ Lord Peyton of YeovilMy Lords, the working group from Lambeth will have its work cut out to invest this project with a measure of dignity. I wish the noble Lord could bring himself to state more clearly than he has done yet what will be the advantages to this country and when they are likely to accrue.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyMy Lords, I do not think we should be ashamed of ourselves, of our heritage and, indeed, of our plans for the next millennium. That is what the dome experience will be about.