The proposed scheme for the Garden Bridge obtained planning permission last year for the construction of a pedestrian bridge planted with shrubs and trees up to 15 metres high crossing from Temple underground station to Queen's Walk on the Southbank.
Queen's Walk runs from Lambeth Bridge to Tower Bridge and includes the section that is intended to be used as the southern landing site. The Council owns the freehold of the landing site, which is the subject of a long lease to social enterprise Coin Street Community Builders. Garden Bridge Trust, the charity behind the proposal, needs to sublease this landing site from Coin Street in order to deliver the proposal. In April this year, campaign group, Thames Central Open Spaces nominated Queen's Walk to be listed as an ACV.
The Council has now listed a section of Queen's Walk, including the landing site, as an ACV. It confirmed that "the consideration of the land as an ACV was purely on its merits as to whether it furthered the social wellbeing or social interest of the local community. The fact that the land is the proposed landing site of the garden bridge is immaterial and played no part in the council's decision making process."
If the Council was to dispose of the land, which includes subleasing, ACV rights gives communities six months to put together a bid to buy the land. Although it does not give them the automatic right to buy it, it does give potential buyers time to collate a proposal and obtain funding. Once this six month period has passed, Coin Street can choose who to dispose of the land to.
The development site has been subject to various objections, including from a local resident who submitted a judicial review application against the Council's decision to grant planning permission. This application was recently withdrawn after an agreement was reached with the council to list the land as an ACV.
Additionally, part of this agreement was that before construction could begin, the trust had to guarantee that they would cover the maintenance costs of the Bridge. Earlier this month, the trust signed an order guaranteeing such costs would be covered by them for at least the first five years following completion. The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has issued a mayoral decision approving this.
Earlier this week, the London Assembly also raised concerns regarding the Garden Bridge scheme and passed a motion requesting Johnson to "agree to a full, independent audit of the procurement process and to withdraw TfL funds from the project." TfL are currently contributing £30 million towards the £175m project.
Planning expert Jo Miles of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said "The ACV listing does not of itself represent an insurmountable challenge to the delivery of the bridge. Under the ACV rules Coin Street would have to notify the council if they intend to grant a sublease of the landing strip to the trust of more than 25 years."
"At the end of the relevant moratorium period Coin Street could proceed to grant the sublease, even if a community group had made a bid to acquire it," she said. "Whilst ACV listing can be a material condition in any planning decision, in this case planning permission for the bridge has already been granted."