THE man who selected the winning design for the Turner Centre in Margate has insisted the decision was right.

County councillor Charles Findlay, who chaired the judging panel that picked out the winning design by Norwegian architects Sonhetta Spence in 2001, said he stood by the decision.

"I chaired the selection panel and our decision was unanimous. We had a really wide variety of designs entered but we were advised by independent experts. It would have been an enormous success had it been possible to build it but with the costs going up,it was inevitable that it would be scrapped," he said.

KCC announced this week (Feb 6) it was abandoning the Margate scheme after the latest estimate for the structure to be built partially in the sea came in at nearly £50million - six times the original estimate.

The original design brief set out by KCC made it clear that the intended location for the gallery was the site now earmarked for the gallery - a former car park.

But Cllr Findlay said the judges had no qualms about backing the design for it to be built in the sea.

"If you want to make a tremendous impact on Margate, that was the one that was going to do it."

Meanwhile, KCC is facing calls for a full investigation into what went wrong.

Cllr Mike Eddy, leader of the Labour opposition group at County Hall, said many questions remained unanswered but accepted that in the circumstances, the decision to call a halt was sensible.

However, he was particularly concerned the issue of the building vibrating in high winds had only become apparent at the eleventh hour.

"That strikes me as rather odd. I was not aware of that and I am surprised to hear about it. KCC should have been more upfront about things. I think the council must have been aware how serious things were becoming - the question is, why was it not prepared to admit it?" he said.

Council chiefs could be questioned next week about the affair by KCC’s cross-party policy scrutiny committee.