BAD SALES PITCH; Anger at pounds 3.5m spent on failed Maze stadium project at taxpayers' expense.

Byline: COLM DONNELLY

THE shelved Maze stadium project has cost taxpayers more than pounds 3.5million despite being kicked into touch earlier this year.

Fees for work on the proposed sports complex earned planning consultants Mott MacDonald pounds 2,417,634 in 2007 to 2008 for "design costs" and pounds 726,566 a year earlier for "business planning".

A spokesman for the firm said it was "very disappointed" the project had been dropped but remained hopeful it could be resurrected.

The pounds 10,000 fee paid to Belfastbased advertising firm Fire IMC for advice on how naming rights to the new stadium could be financially exploited.

Other consultancy fees paid by the Department of Culture, Arts and leisure included pounds 181,302 to KPMG/Davis Langdon for "programme management". And a further pounds 17,943 was given to the same company for a purpose that officials have not disclosed.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was also paid pounds 196,935 for "business planning" work and it subsequently charged the department pounds 1,491 for its representatives to tell civil servants what it had done to justify its fee.

Commenting on the pounds 3.5million expenditure over the past three years, Assembly member Patsy McGlone claimed the DUP had "got involved in a very expensive sort of shadow boxing which has cost millions of pounds".

He had previously revealed that the Stormont administration had spent more than pounds 100million on consultancy fees by Stormont departments in the past five years.

The DUP also came under fire from the chair of the assembly committee which scrutinises the work of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.

Sinn Fein's Barry McElduff MLA claimed the decision not to proceed with the Maze project was a political one rather than an economic one.

He said: "The DUP took so long to make up their minds, showing such a lack of vision and leadership that they have landed us with a huge and unnecessary waste of money."

Mr McElduff added that the expenditure would have been justified if the project had been proceeded with.

The DUP last night refused to comment.

CAPTION(S):

AMBITIOUS Design for the proposed multi-sports stadium