Temple to South Bank footbridge

The Temple to South Bank footbridge was a project led by the Garden Bridge Trust to create a new pedestrian bridge in central London.

Proposals for the footbridge, known as the Garden Bridge, received planning permission from Westminster City and Lambeth Councils in December 2014.

The Garden Bridge Trust was established as a charity with the primary purpose of building and maintaining the bridge.

Under direction from the previous Mayor of London, we commissioned the initial design work for the bridge, secured planning permission for the project, and made a £30m commitment towards the cost of the bridge.

This was alongside a £30m contribution from the Department for Transport (DfT). The remainder of the funding was to have been raised by the Garden Bridge Trust.

On 14 August 2017, the Garden Bridge Trust published its decision to terminate the project.

The DfT agreed in 2016 to underwrite any costs of the Trust if they were to terminate the project. We concluded in February 2019 that an initial DfT-funded payment of £5m was legally required, with further expected contingency of up to £500,000.

Please note: If you need an accessible version of any of the documents below, please email PlanningFOI@tfl.gov.uk.

Dame Margaret Hodge MP review

On 22 September 2016, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced that Dame Margaret Hodge MP, former chair of the Public Accounts Committee, would conduct a review into the Garden Bridge project. The Greater London Authority website includes details of the Mayor's announcement.

Dame Margaret's report was published by the Mayor on 7 April 2017, and is available on the GLA website. Our draft response to Dame Margaret's review and a summary of the management actions we have taken in response to this and other reviews of the project were considered by our Board on 19 July 2017.

The Garden Bridge Trust was required to get guarantees for the maintenance and operation of the bridge. The Mayor of London confirmed on 28 April 2017 that the GLA would not be providing these guarantees.

Mayoral directions and funding

From the Greater London Authority website:

MD2120 Revoking of approvals in respect of the Garden Bridge project - May 2017

MD1647 Garden Bridge guarantees - April 2016

MD1472 Garden Bridge guarantees - June 2015

MD1355 Garden Bridge development proposals - June 2014

MD1248 Temple to South Bank footbridge development proposals - September 2013

Procurement and scrutiny