The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has finally pulled the plug on the controversial plan for a garden bridge across the Thames, announcing that he would not provide the vital financial guarantees needed for construction to begin.
In a letter to the Garden Bridge Trust, the charity leading the much-delayed project, Khan said he was taking the decision because of a continuing shortfall in fundraising for the scheme, and a lack of the necessary land use agreements despite three years of talks.
The news marks the end to the long-running saga of the bridge’s proposed construction, which was championed by Joanna Lumley, Boris Johnson and George Osborne and drew anger from critics who saw it as a symbolic indulgence.
With planning permission expiring in December for the Thomas Heatherwick-designed bridge, intended to run from Temple on the north side of the Thames to the South Bank, the timetable appeared impossible, Khan said.
“The funding gap is now at over £70mn and it appears unlikely that the trust will succeed in raising the private funds required for the project,” he said.
“I am simply not prepared to risk a situation where the taxpayer has to step in and contribute significant additional amounts to ensure the project is completed.”
Part of the various planning permissions for the bridge include that its future operational and maintenance costs be guaranteed from mayoral funds, if the trust is unable to meet them through its commercial and fundraising activities. While Khan does not have the power to scrap the project, championed by his predecessor as mayor, Boris Johnson, his withdrawal of the public guarantees effectively spells the end for the idea.
The proposal for a garden suspended across the Thames, featuring 270 trees and thousands of other plants, was originally devised by Lumley and won support from Johnson and then-chancellor Osborne.
Johnson and Osborne committed £60mn of public money to the scheme, with the rest intended to be raised from corporate donations. But amid fierce local opposition and fruitless talks with the housing trust occupying the south side of the project, construction was delayed and costs rose.
Khan commissioned Labour MP Margaret Hodge to investigate whether the bridge still represented value for public money. Her damning report, published earlier this month, recommended it be scrapped to avoid wasting any more public funds. What had started as a project estimated to cost £60mn was likely to end up costing more than £200mn, Hodge said, with £37.4mn of public funds already spent without any building work having taken place.
She also found that the Garden Bridge Trust had lost major donors and secured only £69mn in private pledges, leaving a gap of at least £70mn, with no new pledges obtained since August 2016.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks during a television interview during London.
