The Gunner Government is spending more than $4,000 a month to maintain the Cavenagh Street shade structure, with another $51,000 set to be spent on new netting to help the vines provide shade.

That’s more than $100,000 to be spent this year alone on the $2.7 million structure that has yet to provide much shade, more than two and half years after first being constructed.

The new costs were revealed following questions on notice by the CLP Opposition who had asked Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler about the costs during Estimates hearings last month.

She claimed in the response to the questions yesterday that securing the “jute netting” would reduce the ongoing maintenance costs.

However, Opposition CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro said it was time for the government to “cut its losses”.

“We’ve had a $2.7 million construction spend, $80,000 on a report to tell us it doesn’t provide any shade,” she told the ABC.

“Now we’re spending $50,000 a year to prune it and $50,000 to support the vines to stay up.

“This project is a total failure.”

Ms Lawler has defended the structure repeatedly, last month telling Estimates that she was “pleased and proud of the work we have done as a government” to cool the city down.

“If you want to have people coming into the CBD you need to make it an attractive place and as cool as possible,” Ms Lawler said.

The shade structure has been met with derision, following its completion and the sluggish growth of the vines, which experts had previously identified as being inappropriate for the desired shade effect.

Despite being made aware that the vines would were not appropriate – with one expert saying it will take 18 years to cover the structure – the government has not replaced them, and continues to defend the project.