Garden Bridge construction scrapped

Plans for construction of the Garden Bridge in London have been scrapped, at a cost of nearly £50m, most of which has come from taxpayer’s money.

The Garden Bridge Trust, has informed the Mayor of London, as well as Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport, which both allocated public funds to the project, of its decision.

The Trust blamed the collapse of the project on London mayor Sadiq Khan’s refusal to underwrite the annual maintenance costs. This scared off potential donors, it said.

Transport for London (TfL) and the government had previously each committed £30m to the Garden Bridge. The remaining funding was being solicited through private donations. Of the £30m pledged by TfL, £20m was in the form of a loan that was expected to be repaid.

Sadiq Khan revealed in May 2016 that of the £60m of taxpayer’s money pledged, £37.7m had already been spent by the Garden Bridge Trust without breaking ground.

Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Garden Bridge Trust, said: “It is with great regret that trustees have concluded that without mayoral support the project cannot be delivered. We are incredibly sad that we have not been able to make the dream of the Garden Bridge a reality and that the mayor does not feel able to continue with the support he initially gave us. We had made great progress obtaining planning permission, satisfying most of our planning conditions and we had raised £70m of private money towards the project.”

Confirming that there was no transport rationale for the bridge, he added: “The Garden Bridge would have been a unique place; a beautiful new green space in the heart of London, free to use and open to all, showcasing the best of British talent and innovation. It is all the more disappointing because the Trust was set up at the request of TfL, the organisation headed up by the Mayor, to deliver the project. It is a sad day for London because it is sending out a message to the world that we can no longer deliver such exciting projects.”

Sadiq Khan said: “It’s my duty to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent responsibly. Following the very serious issues highlighted in Dame Margaret Hodge’s independent review of the bridge – including a funding gap of over £70m, potentially unlimited costs to London taxpayers to fund the bridge in the future, systemic failings in the procurement process and decisions not being driven by value for money – I could not permit a single penny more of London taxpayers’ money being spent on it.

“I have been clear since before I became mayor that no more London taxpayers’ money should be spent on this project and when I took office I gave the Garden Bridge Trust time to try and address the multiple serious issues with it.

“Londoners will, like me, be very angry that London taxpayers have now lost tens of millions of pounds – committed by the previous mayor on a project that has amounted to nothing.”