London's Garden Bridge project collapses

Trust blames Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for failure of footbridge project

A £200m plan to build a bridge covered with trees over the River Thames in central London has been abandoned. The Garden Bridge Trust, which was set up to build the footbridge, has informed Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport, who had both allocated public funds to the project, of its decision.

The trust, said it had failed to raise private funds since losing the support of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in April.

The mayor had expressed his misgivings about the scheme following a review conducted by Dame Margaret Hodge, which calculated £37.4m had been spent so far, and it would cost London taxpayers £46.4m even if it was cancelled.

Following the review, on 28 April Khan wrote to Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Garden Bridge Trust, stating that he was not prepared to sign the guarantee for the £3m annual maintenance costs of the Bridge, a condition of planning consent, despite previous assurances given about his support for the project.

Since then the Garden Bridge Trust said it has examined in detail all options available to it. This included discussions with the central government and with a potential benefactor who, the trust said, was keen to provide the required guarantee.

However, the trustees and potential benefactor have concluded that they cannot proceed with what was meant to a public project in the heart of the capital without the support of the Mayor of London.

Lord Davies has written to the Mayor outlining the reasons why the trust has taken this decision.

Lord Davies 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.

“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. I would like to thank our donors and supporters, who gave us unstinting help and support along the way. The Garden Bridge project will now be formally closed. This includes terminating contracts, and concluding donor-funding agreements.”

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, defended his decision to pull the plug on further funding for the scheme. “It’s my duty to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent responsibly," he said. 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.”

Khan laid much of the blame for the project’s failure on his predecessor as mayor, Boris Johnson, who has since become an MP and is currently the Foreign Secretary.

Khan said: “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.”

However, Andrew Boff, Conservative London Assembly member, said Khan is wasting £9m in taxpayers' money as he could have scrapped the project as early as May of last year.

Thomas Heatherwick, who designed the bridge, expressed his regret at the scheme’s collapse, but expressed a hope it may be revived one day. “Our cities need optimistic, amazing people (who supported the project) like this. And London needs new bridges and unexpected new public places,” he said. “The Garden Bridge has not found its right moment, but I hope one day it will and that London continues to be open to ideas that make life here better."