Mr. Vaneasked the Minister of Works whether he will state the approximate cost of the work in the garden between the Victoria Tower and Lambeth Bridge over the last twelve months, or other convenient period; how much of this cost represents normal maintenance of a public garden of this size; and how much represents exceptional expenditure such as erecting statues and new fencing.
§ Mr. Buchan-HepburnThe work carried out in the Victoria Tower Gardens during the last twelve months falls into three categories, namely, new work costing £7,000 covering the removal and re-erection of statues and the laying out of new paths and shrubberies; special repairs and replacements costing about £12,000 for the replacement of railings and fences which had reached the end of their useful life; and the repair of existing footpaths. The normal day-to-day maintenance, such as grass cutting, costs about £600 a year.
The scheme for the new lay-out of Victoria Tower Gardens was announced in the House of Commons by my right hon. Friend the present Secretary of State for Air on 15th November, 1955, and a model and drawings were exhibited in the Library of the House of Commons.