To be pleased that the Garden Bridge in London is being cancelled

[ForalltheSaints]

A vanity project which would have sucked yet more money from other real transport improvements. In a place not needing a new river crossing.

There should be a requirement to publish full financial details of the money wasted so far.

This is the perfect project, lots of people got paid for years, the project is perfectly delivered in everyone's heads, but noone had to actually deliver it, which is when everyone moans and gets criticised. Politicians must adore it!

Was it a pedestrian bridge with plants on it? What was the purpose meant to be?

YANBU
People who,like the idea - are you aware of the practicalities? Loss of view across the Thames, destruction of trees on south bank, landing space with yet more shops, trees and plants to be watered by crazy expensive irrigation system, regular closures as all those trees wouldn't be safe as soon as we got any high winds?
I'm honestly not trying to offend anyone, I just fail to see how anyone could look at these issues and find it a good plan.

Agreed. Let's hope HS2 gets cancelled, despite the money spent already. It will realistically cost £100 BILLION. Spend some of that on transport systems and connectivity in the north and improve the service to the Southwest.

It should have been scrapped a long time ago. A bridge that would have involved the cutting down if 50+ mature trees that were planted as a war memorial never deserved garden in its title nor any type of public funding. This project was immoral from outset.

It was indeed immoral from the start
I don't understand how it's allowed to spend this much in prep

Re HS2, is there any chance it can be stopped? I had given up hope on the bridge being stopped, I just thought some super rich plum would want their name on it. I'm so pleased! Now wondering if protests and campaigns might actually stop HS2? Drilling due to start in September though....

I'm in Scotland and tbh this is the first I've heard of this project....

How on earth did they plan to get a soil depth deep enough for 270 trees, on a bridge, and still have the river navigable...?????

Having googled it for 5 minutes I'm glad it's been cancelled

@whatsthecomingoverthehill but you have the loop road... you don't need a MRT!

Took me over 6 years of living in Leeds until I FINALLY got the hang of where to get on and off the bloody loop road for various parts of the city center!

I am delighted. Why obscure such famous views?

I am pleased at the decision but aghast at the cost incurred to date.

How was this possible when we have Amber Rudd refusing to cover the costs of emergency fire-fighting equipment that the LFB have so clearly stated to be a basic requirement.

This disgusts me

5rivers7hills, it's our version of congestion charge. Make it so confusing that most people don't bother.

Leeds isn't that bad if you live near a train line. Apart from having to put up with traveling on pacers...

I'm looking forward to the Camden Highline. Much more realistic.
www.camdenhighline.com/

And much more worthwhile. The NY highline is fantastic. Though I think the first one was in Paris (haven't been on that, but is on my list for when we go there).

Good.

Its the kind of idea which sounds really lovely and imaginative at first, but as soon as you start to consider the practicalities and costs becomes ridiculous. There's nothing wrong with proposing/considering ideas like the garden bridge, and giving them a fair airing, but it should have been quashed much, much sooner.

A small amount of the money wasted on this project would have given my town a much needed bypass. A bypass we were told in the 1960s/1970s was needed. And urgently needed when reviewed in the 1980s.

I can take 30-40 mins to just drive a mile across town on a bad day, and a small accident or breakdown in one part of the town causes total gridlock around the whole town, as our road layouts are dire.

Yet we are still told we have to wait for funds to be raised from developers of new housing estates, when it's clear that many of the houses built and even more traffic enters our road system before they'll even have begun building the proposed bypass.

I look at the money wasted on this as an example of stupidity. There are many transport and road projects crying out for funds, projects which would make many peoples lives better, yet money gets wasted on stuff like this.

It was the right decision and well done Sadiq.

Lots of aspects of a garden bridge sound lovely in theory / fantasy. But the oracticalities and realities of the funding, access, wider impact, ecology etc made it the wrong project for public support.

As a Londoner I agree that the infrastructure of other cities needs urgent attention. For existing local citizens and businesses, and to attract more, taking pressure of the SE.

If it helps, our commuter train systems are rendered useless by delays, breakdowns, under-capacity, and are wildly expensive, our roads are constantly blocked for burst water mains on tne antiquated and inadequate water and drains systems, the tube can't cope and housing costs are astronomical. The ordinary average-waged Londoner will share your frustrations and cynicism.

Also why build such a decorative thing in one of the most privileged boroughs?

I heard the idea was they'd allow it to be reserved for private functions...which sounded a lot like a wealthy bunch of friends with consultancies milked this for fees for years, and if it was ever built would use it for private functions...on the public purse. So SO inappropriate - why was this same project not deemed possible in the east end? A beautiful bridge and more green space is always needed in the poorer boroughs - exactly why was the bridge thought needed in a rich area? Who would it actually benefit??

Not wanting a total witch hunt but the main people involved and those who benefitted financially - anyone who promised this project would be a success or benefitted from it the most should be held to account in a public review.

Joana Lumley for one pisses me off no end, thanks for endorsing it Posho

...not unlike the Design Museum being publicly funded and built in Kensington.

I know what you're thinking...oh it's near the other museums in South Ken. Nope - at the end of a shopping street in a residential area where the wealthiest live. Who goes there? School trips etc find it difficult to get to from the other museums, it's out of the way...well lots of yummy mummies or their nannies go there to hang out in the cafe and open space.

So this massive thing was built in an inaccessible area and benefitting those who could already afford to visit it wherever it'd be situated. Why not have put it in a rougher area, a younger area? Doesn't seem half so cutting edge in ra-ra Kensington

They have wasted £42 million on a completely unnecessary vanity project when people are facing fare increases that are making travel to work almost impossible.
And HS2 is another of the same.

Ridiculous Tory folly. Well done Sadiq for binning it.

I live in a northern town- hs2 comes close enough to be able to see it from my house.

If it's built it will shave 30 mins off my current train journey to london. Only instead of being able to go to my local station less than 10 mins away, i'll have to drive across the city to get to the hs2 hub. Probably 40 mins- hour. Plus parking as i can no longer hop on a bus or taxi.

So unless you live next to a hub it will likely make no difference to journey time, and national rail services will be cut.

I really cannot see the point of all that money for no better service than we already have.

I thought the Design Museum took over the premises of the Commonwealth Institute?

The bridge really took vanity projects to new heights. So glad it's been cancelled. Hope they can HS2 as well.

We need better transport across the whole of the UK. Dual carriageway to Cornwall would be my dream.

The Camden highline is a much better idea and will benefit far more people.

I agree that other parts of Britain need investment in their transport infrastructure. However, I can assure you London doesn't move as freely as some people might think.

(as for HS2 I'll help sharpen the axe for that one)