Judge grants planning appeal against Westminster Holocaust memorial - The Jewish Chronicle

A High Court judge has granted permission for an appeal against the decision to allow a Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to be built in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster. Mrs Justice Lieven green-lighted an application by the London Historic Parks And Gardens Trust for a Planning Statutory Review of the project, which was given planning permission in July. Judge Lieven said the charitable organisation’s appeal had been granted on two out of five possible grounds. One of the grounds related to the planning inspector’s decision that the project should go ahead in Westminster. Other grounds considered by the judge was whether the Holocaust Memorial could have been alternatively located at the Imperial War Museum. The Order said: "Ground Four is arguable. Although the Inspector did consider the IWM as an alternative location, the way that he has done so effectively places the burden on the objector to produce a ‘detailed scheme’, which would in practice be almost impossible to discharge.” The memorial, which was approved following a controversial public inquiry into the project, will comprise 23 large bronze fins and an underground education centre. A number of senior Jewish figures have questioned whether the memorial would serve its educational purpose while local residents have expressed concerns that it would ruin Victoria Tower Gardens, where it will be located. Plans for a memorial were first proposed by the Cameron government in 2016 but in February last year Westminster City Council’s planning committee voted unanimously against the idea. The proposals were then put by the government to a public inquiry, which took place online in October 2020. Housing and Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick championed the cause, alongside Lord Eric Pickles, Parliamentary Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel. More than 170 MPs and peers also voiced support for the memorial, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who described the estimated £100 million project as “vital”. Parliamentarians across the UK representing constituencies with large Jewish populations also welcomed the project.