New national Holocaust memorial plan ‘right idea, wrong place’, court told

Feb 23, 2022 by Jill

by Tom Pilgrim, Independent:

The proposals for Victoria Tower Gardens are opposed by the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust.

A plan to build a new national Holocaust memorial in a central London park is the “right idea, wrong place”, the High Court has been told.

The London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust is opposed to a new UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre being built in Victoria Tower Gardens, a small triangular Grade II-listed park next to Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster.

The charity is bringing a legal challenge over planning permission for the park site in Westminster, arguing that the decision-making process was flawed.

Its case against the Government, which is resisting the challenge, is focused on the impact the development may have on the heritage setting and the evaluation of alternative sites.

Richard Drabble QC, representing the trust, told a hearing before Mrs Justice Thornton at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday that it was seeking to have the planning permission decision quashed.

He explained that in 2015 the Holocaust Commission report, “Britain’s Promise to Remember” – initiated by then-prime minister David Cameron – stated that there should be a “striking new memorial” that was “prominently located in central London”.

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