Cloud Arch sculpture 2014 vs 2017. "We have had to change the footings [of the arch] and as a result the design has also changed," she said. The remodelled arch is almost double the width of the original design and will soar 58 metres over George Street, spanning from the Queen Victoria Building across the intersection with Park Street, framing Town Hall. The most vociferous criticism came from Liberal councillor Christine Forster and independent councillor Angela Vithoulkas, who voted in support of the original Cloud Arch plans when it was first approved by council in 2014. Drawing a comparison with Goulburn's Big Merino and Coffs Harbour's Big Banana, Cr Forster slammed the Cloud Arch as a "big tapeworm".

An artist impression of the Cloud Arch art sculpture, which will be built by March 2019. Credit:City of Sydney "I'm not convinced Sydney's big tapeworm is going to drive quite the same visitation that Goulburn and Coffs Harbour have achieved with their investments," she said. "What we are talking about here is a giant cost blowout with no guarantee that it won't continue." Cr Vithoukas accused lord mayor Clover Moore of pursuing the project "at whatever cost" while failing to consider the small business owners and ratepayers. "I don't think any of them will be walking past this project and looking up in awe," Cr Vithoukas said.

Labor councillor Linda Scott also expressed reservations over the cost, but ultimately voted in favour of the Cloud Arch on the grounds the city centre needed "provocative public art." "As when Gough Whitlam so controversially invested in Blue Poles, there will be many who will say Cloud Arch is too expensive or that it's not the right decision for the future of our City," Cr Scott said in a statement following the meeting. "Now more than ever, our City's key public spaces need investment." Cr Scott's endorsement meant the lord mayor did not have to use her casting vote to ensure the artwork was approved. As members of public watched on in the chamber's gallery, council staff provided further details on the reasons for the cost blowout, citing additional expenses associated with the arch's redesign and a 43 per cent increase in world steel prices since December 2015.

According to council documents, the extra 83 tonnes of steel required to build the revised arch accounted for 39 per cent of the total cost increase. Erection costs had also increased as a direct consequence of the increased span, as well as costs associated with the complexity of accessing the site during light rail construction, the documents said. However, the council's figures were thoroughly questioned on Tuesday night. "This is not a matter of whether you believe in public art," Cr Kerryn Phelps said, but a matter of "fiscal responsibility." She said councillors now had the opportunity to "do the financially responsible thing" and "go back to the drawing board and ask is this the right project, the right piece of public art for this time, in this location, at this [cost] or a future cost."

Cr Philip Thalis, an architect and member of the Clover Moore independent team, praised the project for "embracing risk and controversy." Loading "It's not about dollars and cents. We're not being bean counters here," he said. "We're actually approaching this with imagination about our city and what it can become." A total of $1.4 million has already been spent on project, including $380,000 paid to the Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, who designed the Cloud Arch.