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Garden Bridge plans under threat as Lambeth Council ends talks due to funding concerns

Council wants assurances from Mayor of London Boris Johnson that public money won't be used...

The future of the proposed Garden Bridge over the River Thames in London has been thrown into doubt after Lambeth Council suspended talks about the controversial project due to funding concerns.

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick and championed by the actress and Lambeth resident Joanna Lumley, the controversial scheme has come under intense criticism for reasons including that cyclists will not be allowed to ride across it.

The structure would also be closed for several hours each night, as well as for private functions a number of times a year – leading some to question whether it is a piece of public infrastructure, or in effect a privately run tourist attraction.

Controversially, Mayor of London Boris Johnson has pledged £30 million of Transport for London money to the project, with the Treasury also set to provide a similar amount.

In a statement Lib Peck, leader of Lambeth Council, said it would not continue talks over the leases required for the southern end of the bridge, which would link the South Bank to Temple, until it had assurances from Mr Johnson that public money would not be used to finance it.

“I have consistently said, during a time of severe spending cuts putting £30million worth of public funding towards this new bridge isn’t justified,” said Councillor Peck. “So while it might have other merits, it is surely wrong for TfL to issue a blank cheque, particularly given the financial pressures they face from the Chancellor.

“The Garden Bridge is at a crucial moment with Lambeth council now needing to start complex lease negotiations. But serious question marks remain about financing of the scheme. It is also becoming clear that future mayoral support for this scheme is weakening.

“Disappointingly, since I first raised these issues in June, there seems to have been little progress in attracting alternative funding from the private sector, so we are now suspending lease negotiations until the Mayor gives us the reassurances I have written to him asking for,” she added.

Mervyn Davies, chair of the Garden Bridge Trust, expressed shock at the council's decision, telling the Guardian: “We are staggered at Lambeth’s change in stance – in the numerous meetings and in the continual dialogue over two years they have been hugely supportive and great partners.

“To suddenly do a U-turn is extremely troubling. We are so far down the road on fundraising and planning and have huge public support for an extraordinary project with real benefit for the people,” he added.

Labour mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan, however, said this week he would scrap the project if elected to succeed Mr Johnson next May.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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matthewn5 | 8 years ago
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Note the way they always show the Garden Bridge (properly Shrubbery Bridge) that view from a random high vantage point. The way most of us see it will be from Waterloo Bridge. From there it will hide the view of the City of London including St Paul's. Wordsworth's 'Earth hath not anything so fair' view. Canaletto's view. OUR view. You'll have to get onto the privatised Garden Bridge to see that view once this aircraft carrier of a structure is built in the way.

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hampstead_bandit | 8 years ago
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Another mayoral vanity project = white elephant

Just like the cable car....

A new mayor for London is sorely needed.

Someone that actually gets things done to sort out the transport/policing/housing problems we face, rather than the current joker who waffles but does little  2

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Jacobi | 8 years ago
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Seeing as it's being built by the private sector, will the public have to pay to use it? Or will mega millions of taxpayer's money being thrown at it make the public exempt from pay to use?

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Paul_C | 8 years ago
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what is truly tragic is that TfL have already spent loads of money on this just to get this far...

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matheson | 8 years ago
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Up there with HS2 and IndyRef2 as a waste of taxpayers money.

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Bikebikebike | 8 years ago
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£30m of public money on someone's pet project? David Cameron needs to speak up and stick it to this clear example of pork barrel politics.

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LarryDavidJr replied to Bikebikebike | 8 years ago
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Bikebikebike wrote:

pork barrel politics.

...... no .... no more 'pork' gags ...... must ... resist

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Cantab replied to LarryDavidJr | 8 years ago
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LarryDavidJr wrote:
Bikebikebike wrote:

pork barrel politics.

...... no .... no more 'pork' gags ...... must ... resist

Pork gags? As in gagging a pig? As in placing foreign objects in a pig's mouth?

Not sure what gave you that idea...

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danthomascyclist | 8 years ago
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The fact that discussions have even got this far is beyond a joke.

Such a waste of money.

"We're in times of financial hardship and we're making deep welfare cuts and massive reductions in public spending. Fancy building a pompous footbridge? £30 million all in"

"Errr....Yeh sod it.....YOLO"

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LondonDynaslow replied to danthomascyclist | 8 years ago
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danthomascyclist wrote:

The fact that discussions have even got this far is beyond a joke.

Such a waste of money.

"We're in times of financial hardship and we're making deep welfare cuts and massive reductions in public spending. Fancy building a pompous footbridge? £30 million all in"

"Errr....Yeh sod it.....YOLO"

If only it were so cheap. That's £30m from the TfL budget despite it having no transport function, another £30m from the Exchequer despite it being a local project that will be privately operated, and another £115m or thereabout to be raised privately (but investors have been hard to find). Thereafter, the Mayor would have had to underwrite running costs of £3m pa.

I'm already starting to talk about it in the past tense.. must not get carried away!

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