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14/08/2017
£200m London Garden Bridge Project Scrapped
Plans to build the £200 million Garden Bridge project in London have been scrapped.
In a statement, the charity behind the scheme (Garden Bridge Trust) said the decision has been taken to axe the development due to a "lack of support for the project going forward from the Mayor".
Despite receiving backing in 2013 from then mayor Boris Johnson, the scheme was thrown into doubt in April after a report by Dame Margaret Hodge raised concerns over the project's costs, stating decisions on the development "were driven by electoral cycles rather than value for money".
In a letter written to Mayor Khan, 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.
"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."
In response, Mayor 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 £70 million, 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."
(LM/MH)
In a statement, the charity behind the scheme (Garden Bridge Trust) said the decision has been taken to axe the development due to a "lack of support for the project going forward from the Mayor".
Despite receiving backing in 2013 from then mayor Boris Johnson, the scheme was thrown into doubt in April after a report by Dame Margaret Hodge raised concerns over the project's costs, stating decisions on the development "were driven by electoral cycles rather than value for money".
In a letter written to Mayor Khan, 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.
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"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.
"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."
In response, Mayor 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 £70 million, 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."
(LM/MH)
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