THE Fourth Grace consortium yesterday denied any part in the collapse of the controversial scheme as they presented evidence to the final day of a public inquiry into its failure.
Representatives from Alsop Architects, developers Neptune, and other consortium members defended their actions in the project which collapsed earlier this year.
A Liverpool Council scrutiny committee is interviewing everyone involved in the iconic building that never was, with the Alsop consortium blaming a lack of communication from planners.
Among the pivotal stumbling blocks highlighted were multiple redesigns of the Cloud, made in a bid not to block views of the Port of Liverpool building and the Liver Building.
A spokesman for the team told the inquiry: "What should have happened was if the local planning authority wanted a particular sight line view so much, they should have been absolutely clear at the competition stage.
"It would then have made it much more a level playing field. We were very careful as a team to respect all the views that were detailed.
"Or what should have happened on day one is the planners say we're terribly sorry, we forgot about this strategic view, can you restructure your scheme."
A statement issued by the Fourth Grace consortium added: "We believe that the public sector partners were not committed to the scheme."
Planners also advised that a bridge which led into the side of the Cloud from James Street was unsuitable so it was removed which meant a redesign of large parts of the interior.
The consortium also claims planners did not want to be the bearer of bad news to Liverpool council, who were both their employers and also a partner in the scheme, so did not raise problems early enough.
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