Garden Bridge should be scrapped, Hodge review finds

The controversial Garden Bridge project should be scrapped due to uncertain costs a review has found.  

London mayor Sadiq Khan commissioned a review of the project late last year to be headed up by MP for Barking and former chair of the public accounts committee Margaret Hodge. 

Hodge found “multiple” failings in the proposals and has concluded that the bridge was driven by political motivations and “electoral cycles rather than value for money.” 

In her report, Hodge stated that it would be better to simply accept the loss of £37.4m of public funds which have already been allocated to the bridge rather than let it go ahead.

An agreement to underwrite the costs of the project could see the bill rise to £46.4m in total, the report said.  

The review also found overall costs had skyrocketed from an early estimate of £60m to over £200m now. 

Moreover, the review found the “risk to the taxpayer has intensified”, while the original ambition to “fund the Garden Bridge through private finance has been abandoned.”  

Other findings in the report were that the Trust has lost two major private donors and has had no new pledges since August 2016. Very little progress has been made on raising money to fund maintenance of a completed bridge and there was not an open, fair and competitive process around two procurements.  

The review criticised the tendering process for the design of the Bridge created by the previous City Hall administration.  

It stated architect the Heatherwick Studio was given a head start in the process having already been closely associated with the project for five months before invitations to tender were sent out.  

Commenting on the publication of the report, Lord Mervyn Davies, chair of the Bridge Trust, said: “We are pleased that Dame Margaret has finally published her report after six months of uncertainty.  

“We will be studying the report in detail and seeking a meeting with the mayor of London to discuss next steps. The Trust remains as determined as ever to make the Garden Bridge happen which will bring huge benefits to London and the UK.”