Word on the street is the council wasted £40k on ‘Hollywood-style’ sign
A COUNCIL has been accused of wasting money after it spent £40,000 on a “Hollywood-style” sign.
The giant wooden letters were erected to “create a sense of place” and “encourage civic pride” as part of a £6 million regeneration scheme of Eltham. But locals have labelled the 6fthigh sign in Eltham, south-east London – which lights up at night – “pointless”, “a joke”, and a “waste of money”. Jules Clare said: “It’s a joke as the sign looks like it’s only cost £20. It will be either broken or set alight within a year.
“It’ll be used as seating anyway and thus vandalised with initials carved into the surface, or graffiti all over it.
Eltham High Street’s redevelopment has so far has been less than successful, with confusing layouts causing multiple cars to crash into street furnishings, injuring at least one person.
And some residents claim the new sign has created a blind corner on a busy junction. Peter Greenwood said: “It’s a total death trap.”
But Greenwich Council says it has “positively transformed the high street”, along with a number of other “successful” High Street schemes. Councillor Danny Thorpe, cabinet member for regeneration and sustainability, said: “The Eltham High Street scheme has seen an investment of over £6million in measures to support the vitality and vibrancy of Eltham. The sign in question is one of a number of features installed to create a sense of place and encourage civic pride.”
The suburb hit the headlines in April after a 12-year-old girl and three adults carried out a racist attack on two Muslim women after being told off for crossing the road unsafely. During the attack, the victim had her hijab ripped off and was punched in the face.
In March, two brothers from the town were jailed after beating a man to death because his friend called one of them gay.