plans for heatherwick-designed garden bridge in london have been officially cancelled

the organization established to build and run the proposed garden bridge in central london has officially announced the closure of the contentious project.

the organization established to build and run the proposed garden bridge in central london has officially announced the closure of the contentious project. although the heatherwick-designed footbridge was strongly backed by former london mayor boris johnson, the project had not received similar support from his predecessor sadiq khan, who had stated that he was not prepared to sign the guarantee for the annual maintenance costs of the bridge — a condition of planning consent.

‘it is with great regret that trustees have concluded that without mayoral support the project cannot be delivered,’ says lord mervyn davies, chairman of the garden bridge trust. ‘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.’

spanning the thames between waterloo and blackfriars bridges, the proposed structure was to have been covered with plants and other vegetation. last year, it was reported that all construction work on the bridge had been halted over fears of increasing costs for the tax payer. concerns also emerged that an enabling project at temple tube station could lead to more public money being spent on the £175 million project ($225 million USD). with the garden bridge project now formally closed, contracts will be terminated and donor funding agreements will be concluded.