Garden bridge plan withers and dies

THE Garden Bridge project proposed by actress Joanna Lumley has been abandoned amid bitter recriminations over the “waste” of taxpayers’ cash.

Backers of the plan conceded defeat and closed down the charity set up to build and run the Thames crossing.

The plans, which were supported by former London mayor Boris Johnson, were effectively killed off by his Labour successor, Sadiq Khan, in April when he refused to provide guarantees for the costly bridge.

Mr Johnson said it was “so sad” that Mr Khan had “killed it out of spite” while the Labour mayor said Londoners would be “very angry” that taxpayers had lost tens of millions on a project that has come to nothing.

A City Hall source claimed the bridge was a “Boris vanity project” and said Mr Khan had been “crystal clear since before he took office that he was not prepared to commit new taxpayers’ money to the project”.

The Garden Bridge Trust (GBT) said it was a “sad day” for London because the failure to build the bridge sent a “message to the world that we can no longer deliver such exciting projects”.

Mr Khan said in April he would not provide support for the plans because it would leave taxpayers in the capital at risk of higher bills. More than £37 million of public money had already been spent on the project.

It followed a damning report by Dame Margaret Hodge that said it was “difficult to justify further public investment” in the project, which was likely to end up costing more than £200 million.

Mr Johnson said: “Labour has no vision for London and no ambition. The garden bridge was a beautiful project and could have been easily financed. The Labour mayor claimed to support it but killed it out of spite because it was not initiated in his period of office.”

Mr 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 £70million, 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.”