黑洞社区

The Garden Bridge Trust has confirmed that its 拢20m loan from Transport for London towards the cost of building it will not be fully repaid until 2068.

Earlier this week, the charity building the 拢175m bridge designed by Thomas Heathewick said it had struck a deal with Lambeth council 鈥� one of the two local authorities to give it planning 鈥� to resume negotiations over land needed for the bridge鈥檚 southern landing.

Council leader Lib Peck had suspended negotiations in September saying not enough progress had been made in attracting funding from the private sector.

TfL has now reduced the amount 鈥� which was first sanctioned by London mayor Boris Johnson 鈥� that it will give the project from 拢30m to 拢10m.

But it will hand 拢20m to the project in the form of a loan which will start to be paid back once the bridge is built 鈥� scheduled for 2018.

It has not yet been revealed how the payments will be made or whether they will be interest free 鈥� although earlier this week the trust said it was 鈥渨orking on the interest rate with TfL鈥�. A Garden Bridge spokeswoman said it was still finalising the details of the repayment agreement with TfL which would 鈥渂e done very soon鈥�.

Garden Bridge Trust chairman Mervyn Davies said 拢85 million had been pledged from the private sector to date. As well as the TfL money, chancellor George Osborne has pledged a further 拢30 million from the public purse.

Work on the bridge is due to start early next year with the scheme due to open to the public by June 2018.

Meanwhile, London mayor Boris Johnson has said private sector backers have pledged 拢45m to the Olympicopolis project in east London 鈥� but says he wants more.

The scheme involves new homes for the V&A, the University of the Arts London, Sadler鈥檚 Wells and the Smithsonian. They will go up on a strip along the River Lea on the east side of the Olympic Park.

The government has pledged 拢141m to the scheme but Johnson wants the private sector to find a further 拢135m. It has been given a traget of 拢180m.

Allies & Morrison will carry out the work and is leading a team featuring O鈥橠onnell & Tuomey, Josep Camps/Olga Felip Arquitecturia and Gustafson Porter, Buro Happold and Gardiner and Theobald.

黑洞社区 work on the Stratford Waterfront site is due to start in 2018 and it is due to be fully open to the public in 2022.