What to do next?


Here’s how you can help. We need to be asking these questions:

1. What on earth has £26.7m been spent on? This is the amount of public money the Garden Bridge Trust (GBT) has been given since 2015, after Transport for London (TfL) had already spent £10.7m on the design team Heatherwick and Arup to work up the scheme to planning permission. There is little to show for the £26.7m, apart from PR. How much of it remains unspent? TfL has itemised their costs, but the GBT have not.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) must demand this, because the Funding Agreement includes a repayment requirement - and since the Mayor is cancelling support for the project, the GBT need to return any unspent money and/or account for what and how whatever's been spent.

Write to the Mayor of London (mayor@london.gov.uk) demanding a full breakdown of how this £26.7m has been spent and if any is recoverable. Copy in GLA members Tom Copley (Labour), Caroline Pidgeon (LibDem), Andrew Boff (Conservative), Caroline Russell (Green), Peter Whittle (UKIP) who have all expressed concern about the money thrown at this vanity project. (Use this format for contacting GLA members: firstname.surname@london.gov.uk)

https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/contacting-city-hall-and-mayor#acc-i-46882

2. Who is paying for the cost of cancellation?

The GBT prematurely entered into a construction contract in 2016, because this triggered the £26.7m of public money going to them. But the contract included a £15m cancellation fee. How will this be covered? The Department for Transport (DfT) agreed to underwrite this to the tune of £9m - is this being called upon by the GBT? Or are they planning to bend some of the unspent £26.7m, which is not appropriate within the terms of the funding?

And how is the GBT to cover the £6m shortfall? The DfT demanded that the private donors fund this part at least. Is the DfT satisfied that its money is not going to cover this £6m shortfall?

Please write to the Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling and Permanent Secretary Bernadette Kelly to ask for answers and to call for a public inquiry

https://forms.dft.gov.uk/contact-dft-and-agencies/

Department for Transport link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-transport


CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE GARDEN BRIDGE

We are dedicated to saving public space on the South Bank and over the River Thames. The controversial Garden Bridge is not needed here, it would destroy protected views and is democratically and environmentally damaging. Help us stop this now.

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12/6/19 Garden Bridge failure should be likened to Kids Company scandal, MPs told

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17/3/19 Minister: it’s ‘unfortunate’ we spent £43m on Garden Bridge

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13/2/19 Garden bridge charity spent £53.5m with no construction, TfL finds

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12/12/18 Garden Bridge Trust claims £5m of public money for wind-up costs

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31/7/18 Garden Bridge backers 'may have breached legal duties'

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31/7/18 Garden Bridge trustees may have ‘breached their legal duties’ says QC

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01/03/18 Boris Johnson defends garden bridge plan that will cost public £46m

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01/03/18 Boris Johnson blames Garden Bridge project blunders on successor

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28/02/18 Boris Johnson could face investigation over Thames garden bridge

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14/8/17 London's Garden Bridge project officially abandoned

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14/8/17 London's Garden Bridge project scrapped

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6/7/17 Soothing the Garden Bridge’s troubled waters

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22/6/17 Standards commissioner examines complaint against Garden Bridge review

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11/5/17 Good riddance to the Garden Bridge: an eye-watering waste of public funds by Walter Menteth

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29/4/17 Lumley fights on for her fabulous bridge

 

28/4/17 The garden bridge is dead – now £37m of public money must be repaid

 

28/4/17 Garden Bridge: London mayor Sadiq Khan withdraws support

 

16/4/17 Garden bridge project is a landmark of the post-truth era

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15/4/17 A garden bridge to nowhere

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7/4/17 Garden Bridge should be scrapped, Hodge review finds

 

27/3/17 Garden Bridge could cost £22 million more than forecast

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10/3/17 MP warns mayor over Garden Bridge’s cost to taxpayer

 

28/2/17 Garden Bridge Trust cleared of financial irregularities

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23/2/17 Top criminal QC raises ‘serious concerns’ over Garden Bridge contest

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9/2/17 London garden bridge case weaker now than in 2014, says Treasury official

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8/2/17 Garden Bridge: all-party pressure on Sadiq not to sign guarantee

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15/1/17 Let’s not be led any further up the garden bridge

 

11/01/17 London garden bridge project's future is in doubt, say trustees

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5/01/17 "If 2016 was the Year of Bullshit, then the Garden Bridge could be its monument”

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27/12/16 Garden bridge charity warns more delays could terminate project

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16/12/16 MPs investigating Garden Bridge question need for scheme

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14/12/16 Letter from PAC chair Meg Hillier to  Treasury Permanent Secretary

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9/11/16 TCOS response to the GBT's misleading autumn newsletter

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16/10/16 Controversial garden bridge to cost public total of £50m – even if it fails to go ahead

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11/10/16 Mayor must refuse to sign the Garden Bridge maintenance guarantee: statement on NAO report

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11/10/16 David Cameron 'ignored civil servants over Garden Bridge funding'

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11/10/16 Department for Transport ignored official advice not to risk public money on Garden Bridge

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22/9/16 London’s garden bridge would benefit only the rich

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22/9/16 Dame Margaret Hodge MP to conduct review into Garden Bridge project

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7/9/16 Garden Bridge Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons led by Kate Hoey MP

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17/8/16 £22m gap in Garden Bridge funds - Newsnight investigation

 

5/8/16 Thames garden bridge delays raise risk of major boat collision – expert

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29/7/16 Garden bridge charity delays publishing annual accounts for five months

 

25/7/16 Garden Bridge: Tough questions for £175m Thames project

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24/7/16 HS2 and the garden bridge are vanity projects – it's not too late to scrap both

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21/7/16 Garden bridge may need taxpayer bailout once built, report says

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11/7/16 Sadiq Halts Work On Garden Bridge

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30/6/16 National Audit Office investigates London garden bridge grant

 

19/5/16 London's garden bridge: visitors urged to donate on Thames crossing

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21/4/16 Boris Johnson accused of misleading politicians over garden bridge

 

17/4/16 Why did Sadiq Khan change his mind over the Garden Bridge? He's fallen for the sunk costs fallacy

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14/4/16 Council consultation row over Garden Bridge

 

5/4/16 Lambeth’s Garden Bridge decision to face scrutiny

 

1/4/16 Joanna Lumley proposes Thames ‘Allotment Ferry’

 

1/4/16 Giant Boris Gnome planned for Garden Bridge

 

24/3/16 Architects and critics in last-minute plea to stop Garden Bridge

 

21/3/16 The Garden Bridge project reeks of cronyism and improper process. And here are the other 25 problems with it

 

18/3/16 London's Boris Johnson 'chided' over Garden Bridge design contract

 

9/3/16 Toilets and terrorism: Lambeth approves Garden Bridge plans 

 

7/3/16:  Garden Bridge: London council allegedly threatened over Thames project - by Peter Walker

 

7/3/16 Taking the piss out on the Garden Bridge - by George Turner

 

6/3/16 Thames garden bridge faces last-ditch challenge from local politicians - by Peter Walker
 

3/3/16 Lambeth could take Garden Bridge decision behiind closed doors - by James Hatts

 

1/3/16 Caroline Pidgeon pledges total opposition to the Garden Bridge - by Caroline Pidgeon

 

February 2016 ‘Thames Garden Bridge Procurement issues’ Walter Menteth, Project Compass CIC.

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24/2/16 "On Bullshit" & the Garden Bridge - by Dan Anderson

 

14/2/16 Garden bridge: a project promoted and sold with half‑truths, deceptions and evasions - by Rowan Moore.

 

14/2/16 You've had your fun - let's put the Garden Bridge to bed now - by Rachel Holdsworth

 

13/2/16 Why is London's Garden Bridge worth as much as five Lancashire museums? Ask Joanna Lumley - by Ian Jack

 

12/2/16 London's Garden Bridge is exposing the messy business of architecture competitions - by Diana Budds

 

10/2/16 London Green party call halt to privatisation of public space in London - by Sian Berry

 

10/2/16 Is it still possible to stop the Garden Bridge? - by Will Wiles.

 

9/2/16 Garden Bridge procurement statement from RIBA - Jane Duncan

 

31/1/16 Muddy Waters - Jobs for the boys - by Walter Menteth

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29/1/16 The Garden Bridge subverts the lessons of history - by Dan Anderson

 

20/1/16 Boris Johnson evades Tom Copley AM's questions about the Garden Bridge

 

20/1/16 Londoners' money put at risk by the Garden Bridge  - by Will  Hurst

 

17/1/16 George Osborne under attack overGarden Bridge cash pledge - by Mark Townsend

 

21/11/15 Why we must stop Thomas Heatherwick's Garden Bridge - by Jack Wakefield

 

17 Sept 2015. GLA Oversight Committee Agenda Item 8, p71-72. Walter Menteth Report submission to the GLA Oversight Committee to inform their examination into the procurement of the design and technical services for the Thames Garden Bridge. Document review, analysis, report & response to GLA questions by Walter Menteth of Project Compass CIC as expert witness on behalf of industry. 34p.