If you‘re struck by Robert Jenrick’s ‘unlawful’ approval of Richard Desmond’s planning application, then here’s a shaggy dog story for you. Warning: may cause irritation.
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2015: It’s agreed that the UK needs a national Holocaust Memorial, with adjacent learning centre. The project will be led by UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation ( @UKHMF) an agency of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Govt. There are some familiar names on the Board.
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A specification is drawn up and the search for a site begins, led by Gerald Ronson and Peter Freeman.
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We’re assured that they considered some 50 sites, but they refuse to disclose the list. Then, in late 2015 someone alights on Victoria Tower Gardens (VTG). Lord Feldman, then Tory Chairman, writes a letter:
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2016: Cameron announces VTG as the chosen site. A tiny park next to Parliament, it meets virtually none of the original criteria. It is unclear how much, if anything, UKHMF will pay for use of this publicly owned land, but Cameron commits £50m of public funds to the project. 5/n

2017: Public consultation on the 10 shortlisted designs. Objections to the location are firmly ignored.

Adjaye / Arad design wins the competition. It is recycled from a design submitted by the same team for a Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa.
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2018: Planning application submitted to Westminster Council on behalf of the Secretary of State for MHCLG. Objections flood in! The overwhelming majority support the project, but object to destruction of an historic public park.
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UKHMF are rattled by the number of objections, so they pay taxpayer funds to their friends @Big_Ideas_Co to drum up supportive comments like this:
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Westminster Council is not fooled by the spike in supportive comments. Besides which, the proposal breaches every local and national policy on protection of green space and heritage. 9/n

Government bungs another £25m of public funds into the project, because it turns out that building underground in a flood zone and trying to avoid 100 year old tree roots is quite pricey. 10/n

The UKHMF Co-Chairs try getting tough with Westminster Council. The Council Leader slaps them down. It’s not going the way the government wanted so.....
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....just hours before purdah begins for the December 2019 election, the Minister of Housing calls in the application, meaning that it’s out of the hands of Westminster Council. 12/n

2020: A planning inquiry is scheduled for May. Once the Planning Inspector has reached a verdict the final decision will be made by the Housing Minister (Pincher) whose boss (Jenrick) is the applicant, and whose department (MHCLG) ‘owns’ the project. 13/n

Gerald Ronson’s lawyers attend the pre-inquiry meeting and when Covid19 lockdown begins the government lawyers push for the inquiry date to be maintained, despite knowing that this will inhibit public involvement. 14/n

The inquiry will now take place in October. We don’t know how the Learning Centre will be run and funded long-term. We don’t know how much has been raised privately (Garden Bridge anyone??). The flood and tree-protection plans are inadequate. The Jewish community is divided. 15/n

While the intention may have been good, this project is now tainted by government secrecy, conflict of interest, disregard for the planning system and a strong appearance of predetermination. The government should rethink because parks, even symbolic ones, are precious. END