Back by the European Investment Bank, Europa Nostra is Europe’s largest civil society heritage network. The network has assigned a group of independent planning and heritage experts to find a solution for the UK Government and campaigners, whom are at odds over plans for a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London’s historic Victoria Tower Gardens.
Located in a conservation area, Victoria Tower Gardens is a grade II listed park and World Heritage Site. Eleven years’ ago, the then Prime Minister David Cameron committed to build a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre and the park was later named as the chosen location. The proposed development would consume 20% of the park’s total area and 40% of the open green lawn space.
London Parks & Gardens (LPG) have challenged this project since 2016 on the grounds it ignores legal protection granted to the park, and the plans would forever change the nature of the space. The LPG explains that their views have been upheld through the planning process and in the courts, but successive Governments remain determined to pursue the development in historic park. This month, the Government plans to rewrite laws protecting the park pass through the House of Lords, which the LPG explain, leaves “a small window of opportunity for politicians to review the mounting evidence against the proposal”.
Campaigners, nationally and internationally, fully support the creation of a Memorial and Learning Centre but find Victoria Tower Gardens as being wholly unsuitable for its location. In 2019, UNESCO’s International Council on Monuments and Sites said the memorial would have a “massive visual impact” on the World Heritage Site of the Palace of Westminster. Earlier this year, upon the nomination submitted by the London Gardens Trust, Victoria Tower Gardens was selected by Europa Nostra as one of Europe’s 7 Most Endangered heritage sites. Drawing attention to this specific point, Europa Nostra has recently written to the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Leader of the House of Lords and the Prime Minister. They have proposed a meeting between representatives of Government and stakeholders and its expert delegation to discuss possible alternative solutions for the siting of the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre.
“We welcome this support from Europa Nostra and feel it could be a game-changer, helping us all find a way through our impasse, saving the integrity of Victoria Tower Gardens and protecting its cultural, social, and environmental value for all while finally enabling both a memorial and a new world class and fit for purpose Learning Centre to be built,” explains Tim Webb, Interim Director LPG.
A spokesperson for the Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign group added: “Constructive discussion over the location for the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre is long overdue. We desperately need a compromise which satisfies all parties, while avoiding the irreversible damage currently proposed for the precious green space at Victoria Tower Gardens. The Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign group welcomes the offer from Europa Nostra to mediate to that end.”
