Procurement process for the Garden Bridge must be independently evaluated

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s refusal at today’s Mayor's Question Time to accept a full and independent audit of the procurement process for the design of the Garden Bridge, said:

"Through extensive investigation led by Architect Journal a number of serious issues have arisen about how Heatherwick Studio was awarded the contract for the design of the proposed bridge. It really is odd in the extreme that companies with far greater expertise in designing bridges were marked down on the criteria of ‘relevant design experience’.

"When a former chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects procurement reform group states that serious questions remain about the selection process you would expect the Mayor of London to directly address the issues of concern.

"Yet instead the Mayor has dodged answering questions and simply thrown abusive comments at anyone who dares to question the merits of the Garden Bridge.

"The whole process has been as murky as the water that flows down the Thames.”

Read more at the Financial Times and the BBC.