Sydney Hub: Sydney copier House: Chinese officials criticised for 'rip-off' version of ...

Haian councillors criticised for wasting money on lavish waterside building

They were given a grant to boost poor area by developing ecological park

Instead, local people have an empty replica of Sydney Opera House

Local farmers have been using the empty building to store crops in winter

Park managers say the small, dark building will be used as a greenhouse

PUBLISHED: 08:06 EST, 29 October 2013 | UPDATED: 09:18 EST, 29 October 2013

Councillors in an impoverished Chinese village have been criticised for splashing out on a Sydney Opera House-style building which has been used only to store crops

Local councillors in Haian county, in Jiangsu province, were given a grant intended to transform the under-developed area into an ecological park.

But it appears all the money has been spent on a small but lavishly-designed waterside building that replicates the iconic Sydney Opera House.

Rip-off? Chinese officials in the poor county of Haian deny they have wasted grant money on a waterside building that looks like Sydney Opera House

Greenhouse: The money was intended to transform Haian into an ecological centre, but instead they got a lavish building

Officials however strongly deny the copycat claims and say the building was built as a greenhouse.

The empty structure, that looks out of place among the rundown houses in the neighbourhood, has been unused and empty for four years.

So local farmers decided it was the perfect place to keep crops dry over winter, which has become the building's default purpose.

Managers of the newly-created ecological park claim that the building was not an attempt to create a copy based on the Opera House.

The resemblance with the 'ecological' building in Haian to the Sydney Opera House, pictured, has been remarked by many, who have criticised councillors for wasting money

The resemblance with the 'ecological' building in Haian to the Sydney Opera House, pictured, has been noticed by many, who have criticised councillors for wasting money

They said it was to be a giant greenhouse to be used as a nursery for planting exotic crops for the local fields.

Most critics have dismissed this however, pointing to the restricted light and limited floor space inside the building.

With just 120 square metres, they point out that it wouldn't be very practical, since hardly any young plants could be raised there.

The money was supposed to benefit local people in the under-developed area. It was used to build the striking building, which has laid empty for four years

But park spokesman Jian Tien was adamant that they had not been wasting money by creating buildings that were copies of something more famous elsewhere: 'We built it to look like a booming flower, and not as a copycat as the Sydney opera house.

'I know it has been unused for some time but we will put it into use soon, and not leave it unused any longer.'