Government still ‘committed’ to Holocaust memorial near Parliament despite High Court quashing planning permission
The government is still “committed” to building a Holocaust memorial next to Parliament, despite a High Court decision to block planning permission for it.
Peers have clashed after campaigners won a decision to delay a £100m project for a Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre at Victoria Tower Garden in Westminster.
Lord Pickles, co-chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, insisted it will still be pursued, while Baroness Deech, a campaigner against it, said she was “relieved and pleased.”
This comes after the London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust opposed the initiative arguing it is the “right idea, wrong place”, complaining about its environmental and cultural impact.
“The decision will delay the material but will not prevent” it from being built, Lord Pickles said. The decision, he continued, “was on technical procedural grounds not on the suitability of the location”, and the “government is committed to building” it still.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the High Court decision was “very disappointing news”.
Campaigners claim its proposed location risks affecting the park “irrevocably”, with Deech – a fierce opponent of it- saying she was “very relieved and pleased” with the decision.
“From the outset, this planned memorial has been controversial and on a straightforward level, it’s so inappropriate”.
The peer, whose father came to the UK from Nazi-occupied Europe claimed the project was a “highly political” move. Asked whether she thinks it was the “right idea in the wrong place”, she insisted it was the “wrong place”, and the idea, “namely the theme of the British reaction to the Holocaust, needs a rethink.”
She said the government will “try to appeal” and called on Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations, to “call a conference and try and hammer out a compromise and do a bit more research.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We will study the judgment carefully and consider our next steps.
“The Government remains committed to the creation of a new national Memorial commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, and it is disappointing – especially for Holocaust survivors – that this judgment will delay its completion.”