A newly-released independent report sets important questions for money over public funds and the project's value for the future, has been released by Margaret Hodge, a Member of Parliament. 

The investigative report was released by the Greater London Authority on Thomas Heatherwick’s speculative 367-metre-long Garden Bridge-a proposed footbridge and public garden over the River Thames, linking Temple with the South Bank. The budget issues for funding and the management of the project are still the issue for public and the Council.

In October 2016, Margaret Hodge was commissioned by Major Sadiq Khan to prepare an independent review for the Garden Bridge and Hodge submitted her report in April 2017. Hodge's findings showed that the Garden Bridge clearly doesn't need to be scrapped, but it is ''difficult to justify further public investment in the Garden Bridge.''

The project is now being led by the Garden Bridge Trust. Government has pledged £60m for the bridge’s budget and £30m is coming from Transport for London and £30m from Central Government. £20m of the money pledged by TfL is in the form of a loan to be repaid in full.

''Sadiq has made his view clear that no new London taxpayers’ funds should be committed to the Garden Bridge. He has also demanded that the Bridge is a genuinely public and open space for all Londoners, with strict limits on how often the Bridge is closed for private events,'' stated the Greater London Authority.

''This review does not seek to assess whether building a Garden Bridge over the River Thames is a good idea; that is a matter for the Mayor, and I made clear at the start of this review process that I had no view. I have studied the papers to which I have been given access and have held meetings with relevant stakeholders and others who have asked to see me,'' stated Margaret Hodge in her introductory paragraph.

Hodge writes that ''the original ambition to fund the Garden Bridge solely through private finance has been abandoned. Furthermore the goalposts have moved several times and each time the risks to the taxpayer have intensified. Looking to the future, the costs of construction have escalated and are likely to increase further. What started life as a project costing an estimated £60 million is likely to end up costing over £200 million.''

''At the same time the Garden Bridge Trust has lost two major donors and has only secured £69 million in private funding pledges, leaving a gap of at least £70 million that needs to be raised for the capital investment. No new pledges have been obtained since August 2016.''

Hodge's review focuses on value for money, escalating costs and conduct and procedures in the report. She also expresses her personal opinion on the Garden Bridge by approaching the Garden Bridge Trust as 'sceptical' -whether ''it will succeed in raising all the private capital monies required and I am or more public money will be needed to complete the construction.''

In réponse to Margaret Hodge's report, Mayor Sadiq Khan issued a statement, published on the the Greater London Authority website. Khan overtly stated that ''your report raises extremely serious questions about the way the Garden Bridge was handled under the previous administration at City Hall and its current viability. We will now take time to thoroughly understand your findings, to read the evidence you have collated and to think through its implications for the future.''

''I have been clear since I became Mayor that I will not spend a penny more of taxpayers' funds, for which I am responsible, on the Garden Bridge. That remains the case.''

Read the full investigative report of Margaret Hodge here and read the letter of Mayor Sadiq Khan here.

The Garden Bridge first revealed in 2013 and is still discussed to set the correct management framework and budget for the project. Thomas Heatherwick's other controversial project Pier 55 -is finally under construction after a long legal debate. 

Pier 55 will function as a public park and performance space on Manhattan's lower west side, commissioned by a non-profit organisation and funded primarily by the Diller, which will build and cooperate the Pier in collaboration with the Hudson River Park Trust.

All images courtesy of Arup

> via The Greater London Authority