Garden Bridge buck passing

Key decision-makers involved in all, or part, of the Garden Bridge project have passed the buck consistently since its ill-conceived beginnings in 2012.

A new report today from the London Assembly suggests that all involved, were ultimately responsible for the project’s failure;

• The former Mayor, Boris Johnson, took an active supporting role, by using the functions of his office to issue Mayoral Decisions that would effectively remove any blocks to development progress.
• The Garden Bridge Trust were progressively reckless in their decision-making to address their increasingly precarious funding position.
• Transport for London (TfL) did not use the full extent of its functional and advisory powers to communicate to the Mayor the risks related to project delays and increasing financial mismanagement.

The report ‘Up the Garden Path’ examines:

• the decision by the Trust to sign a construction contract with a joint venture led by Bouygues Travaux Publics and Cimolai SpA
• the decision by TfL to approve £7 million funding, when their conditions appear not to have been met in full
• the extent to which TfL’s governance and internal processes have been improved