Work to create a controversial garden on a roundabout at a cost of £135,000 has finally finished, a year later than planned.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by KentOnline revealed the largest financial contribution came from energy company E.ON at £50,000.

The money was given to Medway Council as part of a planning agreement in 2006 to replace coal-fired units at the Kingsnorth Power Station.

Nearly £60,000 came from planning agreements made during the negotiations for the development of MidKent College (£28,000) and as part of the extension of Tesco Extra, Gillingham.

The supermarket chain agreed a financial contribution of £300,000 towards town centre improvements and £30,676 of that is being used on the roundabout.

The remainder of the money came from the highways maintenance budget (£13,323) and from the Local Transport Plan funding (£13,000).

The Japanese design, built in honour of Gillingham-born explorer Will Adams, sits in the centre of the roundabout in Watling Street, where it meets the A289 Ito Way and Will Adams Way.

The project was meant to be complete in November last year and while the bridge and boulders were put in place earlier this year, planting has only just finished.

Ward councillor for Twydall Glyn Griffiths said: “I remain convinced that it’s an utter waste of public money at a time when services are going down the pan, when roads are falling apart, to have caused such disruption, it simply cannot be justified.

“They should have made it safer by making it larger to be able to take the three lanes of traffic that use it at the moment.

“You take your life in your hands when you go round it. It’s not fit for purpose.

“You look at the final result and can you honestly say that it’s worth £135,000? I certainly don’t. I could have built that out of a wodge of wood from B&Q.”