It was billed as a miraculous no-strings-attached gift to London, a fairytale forest on a bridge that would be entirely paid for by private sponsors. But this sparkling new “tiara on the head of our fabulous city,” as Joanna Lumley, cheerleader for the garden bridge, has called it, is turning out to be a rather costly crown. In a confidential letter obtained by the Guardian it has emerged that the public will be liable for the bridge’s annual £3.5m maintenance bill in perpetuity – on top of the £60m of public funds already committed to the project.
The news goes against everything London’s mayor has pledged to date. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson again denied that further public money would be lavished on the scheme. “The maintenance cost will not be borne by the public sector, I’ve made that clear,” he told LBC radio. Yet in a letter from one of his senior staff to the Garden Bridge Trust, he appears to have made other plans.
The Guardian: Boris Johnson's duplicitous handling of London's garden bridge
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