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Garden Bridge project officially closed as Trust gives up

The Garden Bridge Trust has admitted defeat in an announcement that confirms Sadiq Khan's removal of public guarantees for maintenance costs has finally ended all hope for the £200m project. Khan's decision to remove a previous pledge to underwrite the bridge's circa £2m of annual running cost came in April this year, after a review into the project by Dame Margaret Hodge, commissioned by Khan. Hodge concluded it was better to scrap the scheme rather than risk costs spiralling further at taxpayers' expense.

The Trust claims that it had found another benefactor willing to pay for the bridge's maintenance, but admits that this was still not enough as mayoral support was seen as essential for the project to succeed. A letter to Khan from the Trust's chairman, Lord Mervyn Davies, spells out the reasons for the project and the Trust finally being wound up: 

"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."

This finally brings to an end a saga mired in controversy since details emerged of dubious procurement practices on the part of the previous mayor, Boris Johnson and other TfL officials when establishing the design competition for the bridge, allegedly connected to failed attempts to attract sponsorship from donors including Apple Inc. The Hodge report produced a damning assesssment of how the project was initiated and progressed. The Trust had lost two significant donors, while the bridge's costs had increased from £175m to over £200m and were at risk of increasing further, she said.

The formal winding up of the Garden Bridge leaves London still some way short of getting a new pedestrian and cycleway bridge over the Thames. Two years ago TfL boasted of plans for 13 crossings on the way, but four were proposed road crossings including the Silvertown Tunnel and Highways England's Lower Thames Crossing. Crossrail tunnels accounted for two of TfL's plan. One crossing was a ferry service and another was a proposed extension of the Overground railway to Thamesmead, but the line has to get to Barking Riverside first – approval for which was granted last week.

Proposals for the remaining five foot and cycle bridges included the Garden Bridge and the Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge, which doesn't have the support of residents and Westminster Council on the north bank. That leaves just the Diamond Jubilee Bridge, which is arguably favourite to get built as it has planning permission from the mayor's Office, Battersea and Wandsworth Councils, but it's still £20m short of being built. Khan has stated his support for both the Diamond Jubilee and the proposed Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf bridge, but he hasn't funded either. The latter, costing at least £90m, has neither planning permission nor funding secured.