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14 November 2014
Issue 10.6
KENT WHEEL COST £54,800 33 metres tall, 24 pod capacity, 10 minutes per ride, One extraordinary cost
• Estimated total cost of £260,300 • £54,800 spent between 24 September and 19 October • £13,700 each week on campus • Student tuition fees £9,000 per year Photo by Daniel John
Ruby Lyle Newspaper News Editor
T
he Kent Eye cost £54,800 for the time it was at the University of Kent. A Freedom of Information Request (FOI), submitted by the Mature Students Officer, Dave Cocozza, on 12 October, asked the University the cost of
installing the Kent Eye. The request, answered on 4 November, revealed it cost £13,700 per week. This included £8,000 for the wheel and £5,700 for other costs, including security. The estimated total cost of the Kent Eye being on campus both from 24 September to 19 October, and again when it is
due to arrive from July to midOctober 2015, is £260,300. This is the equivalent of one year’s worth of tuition fees for almost 29 students. After asking where the funds to pay for the wheel came from, a Kent spokesperson said: “The University allocated a budget of £350k for its 50th Anniversary Programme from its total
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annual income of over £200m (representing less than 0.2% of the total). It is not possible to distinguish one source of income from another within this overall budget.” The response to the FOI emphasised the cost of the wheel being offset by ticket sales. The University website states, on the 50th anniversary
events page, that all ticket sales went to the Kent Opportunity Fund as part of its year long campaign to raise £1 million. When asking the University for clarification, they said: “‘One of the aims of the 50th Anniversary programme is to generate funds for the Kent Opportunity Fund.” TURN TO PAGE 3
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