#PublicSpace #London *this shameless landgrab shd be seen as part of the much wider picture of public #GreenSpaces being appropriated by those who see #parks as empty plots for construction or commercial activity* RSVP @miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social 😡 @pickardje.bsky.social @katie0martin.ft.com

Below, an update on our campaign. The Holocaust Memorial Bill has now received Royal Assent. Once the diggers move in there will be no going back, so we will now be campaigning for a fresh planning inquiry. www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-go...

‘If you think London’s parks are protected, think again.’ - Alice Robert, CPRE www.theguardian.com/environment/...

House of Lords: ‘The sole purpose of any Learning Centre must be the provision of education about the Holocaust and antisemitism.’ Government: ‘Nope.’ #HowDidWeGetHere #MakeItMakeSense #HolocaustMemorial #Westminster #VictoriaTowerGardens

If the Holocaust Memorial Bill is passed, the project will again require planning permission. We have repeatedly asked for a new planning inquiry given the many changes since the original decision but the Govt will not commit to this. Our campaign continues.…!

Holocaust Memorial Bill returns to the Commons on Tues 20 Jan. MPs will discuss one Lords amendment: "The sole purpose of any Learning Centre must be the provision of education about the Holocaust and antisemitism.” The Government intends to deny this request and has restricted debate to 1 hour!

I wrote about London's new Holocaust memorial, due to get the green light this year. Supporters believe the project has already been delayed for too long. But critics fear it will oversimplify Britain’s relationship with its past and with present-day antisemitism. www.politico.eu/article/brit...

The Christmas tree in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.

Victoria Tower Gardens

The Buxton Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens, by the RiverThames in London, revealed after a complex restoration.

Almost certainly! The UK government used similar tactics in 2019, when they employed ‘social impact agency’ Big Ideas, at a cost of £118k to the taxpayer, to subvert the planning consultation system in the case of the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre.

Praise and thanks to the peers who were in the @houseoflords.parliament.uk chamber until 01.20 last night, voting in support of amendments to the Holocaust Memorial Bill.

Phil Rosenberg of @boardofdeputies.bsky.social writing on his own account because the Board has never given Deputies a vote on the UK Holocaust Memorial proposal for Victoria Tower Gardens.

Charles Moore writes in today’s @telegraphnews.bsky.social about the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre proposed for Victoria Tower Gardens, which returns to @houseoflords.parliament.uk tomorrow.

Note how Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington avoids answering the concerns about public access to Victoria Tower Gardens.

We’ll never know. Because nobody else has proposed building anything in this Grade II listed park. UK Holocaust Memorial Save Victoria Tower Gardens

Few places better to watch the Thames roll by than lovely Victoria Tower Gardens. #SaveVictoriaTowerGardens

The UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre, as currently proposed, is ‘a terribly bad idea’ and ‘massive misallocation of resources’. Exactly right, Tristram Hunt. @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social @rachelblakemp.bsky.social @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social

Today in @thetimes.com, #TristramHunt of #V&A and the new #EastStorehouse, says what many museum and cultural sector leaders are thinking about the proposed #UKHolocaustMemorial and #LearningCentre.

Athena in @countrylifemag.bsky.social hits the nail on the head: ‘The uncompromising attitude of those responsible for driving it forward….to admit no reasonable objection….Indeed, why should they when the whole system is being managed to their advantage?’ #VictoriaTowerGardens #UKHolocaustMemorial

Good morning friends. See my latest article here: thetidalthames.com/2025/05/18/t...

Good work from @privateeyenews.bsky.social. They’ve covered this “divisive project” from the start, and they’re still on the case. #UKHolocaustMemorial #VictoriaTowerGardens

With the Board of Deputies trying to manage differences of opinion this week, we’re reminded of Deputies’ less-than-enthusiastic response to the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre - a project that’s implacably supported by their leaders.

The desire for a united front has prevented @boardofdeputies.bsky.social leaders from ever holding a vote on the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre proposal. The leadership supports it, but knows very well that many deputies don’t.

Victoria Tower Gardens being enjoyed yesterday, and closed today in preparation for today’s Yom Hashoah event. Always sad to see the park closed, but infinitely preferable to having it excavated, built upon and security guarded for the ill-conceived UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre.

This latest pronouncement from @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social makes a mockery of the 7.5% figure that promoters have always claimed would be occupied by the UK Holocaust Memorial. Because who will use the grassy mound like the people *in the promoter’s own visuals* if arrest is a possibility?

Aha….so it will take up “approximately 7.5% of the area of #VictoriaTowerGardens, but setting a square metreage for the #HolocaustMemorial & Learning Centre would “MAKE THE PROPOSED SCHEME UNDELIVERABLE” Whaaatt??

#LordIanAustin on Thursday, vs Lord Ian Austin on Friday. Still not quite learning to think before he tweets.

Whereas supporters claim that construction will only cost £191m, and Adjaye had nothing to do with the design. 🧵 But we’re the fantasists.

Just #IanAustin joking about fire risk on a project where #EricPickles is involved. #HolocaustMemorial #Lakanal

Excellent news from #EuropaNostra, @eib and our allies at #LondonParksAndGardensTrust #7MostEndangered

A competition that no one really wants to be in. But very grateful to #EuropaNostra for recognising the value of #VictoriaTowerGardens and the severity of the current risk to it. www.europanostra.org/europa-nostr...

There’s been a lot of controversy about the proposed Holocaust Memorial in Westminster: as a rabbi, I’d prefer to scrap it & put the £100+ million into education in schools nationally about Jewish life & values; that’d be much more effective than a static memorial in one place.

This week's Lords debate on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, featuring a comparison of Adjaye and Arad to... Pablo Picasso

NEWS | Tory peer brands ‘discredited’ Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial ‘grotesquely ugly’ www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/tory-pe...

“An answer in search of a question.” Sir Trevor Pears’ assessment of the proposed Holocaust Learning Centre. #Holocaust #education #memorial #parks #philanthropy

In @thetimes.com today, Dr Gerhold cuts to the critical question: why here? #HolocaustMemorial #Westminster #London #DanielFinkelstein #VictoriaTowerGardens

Anita Lasker-Wallfisch writes powerfully in today’s @thetimes.com. Let’s hope members of @houseoflords.parliament.uk are listening, because the project’s promoters certainly are not.

🚨 #VictoriaTowerGardens #GreenSpaces #London 🚨 The @houseoflords.parliament.uk committee resumes today assessing the @adjayeassociates.bsky.social outrageous proposal. Two recent letters here opposing the scheme: pages.pagesuite.com/7/6/76ba7db5... edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader...

Caroline Voaden MP’s Private Members’ Bill, seeks to establish a Government Office for Urban Green Spaces ...read more on thedirt.news #Billforgreenspaces #CarolineVoadenMP #Greenspaces #HTA thedirt.news/new-bill-to-...

Clearly Victoria Tower Gardens has been designated (by someone, somewhere) as the new home of Yom Hashoah. Can we suggest to @boardofdeputies.bsky.social and other proponents of the Adjaye Holocaust Memorial plan, that they can hold this annual commemoration in VTG without concreting over the park

Brilliant letter from @howarthm.bsky.social in @islingtontrib.bsky.social, giving a measured but damning assessment of the current UK Holocaust Memorial proposal.

@heathernstaff.bsky.social @islingtonlabour.bsky.social @islingtonsouth.bsky.social @islingtonnorth.bsky.social @zackpolanski.bsky.social @londongreenparty.bsky.social @savevtg.bsky.social FYI Lead letter @islingtontrib.bsky.social p.10 re #HolocaustMemorial edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader...

3.45 on Tuesday 4th March. Watch on Parliament TV 👀

This is all horribly familiar: - Park users mourning a much-loved green space - Public space as good as given away - Developers promising ‘improvements’ Dismal.

New for OnLondon from @charleswright57.bsky.social - tribulations of the Holocaust memorial: www.onlondon.co.uk/charles-wrig... #london

Endangered: Victoria Tower Gardens in London is threatened by the proposed construction of a national Holocaust Memorial, which would dominate the whole southern half of the gardens @savevtg.bsky.social 7mostendangered.eu/sites/victor...

We have opposed the proposed memorial in this location, believing—as Europa Nostra also notes—that this is the right idea, but the wrong location. Victoria Tower Gardens is a historic green space of national significance, and its protection is vital. Read more: www.europanostra.org/europa-nostr...

Victoria Tower Gardens named among Europe's most endangered heritage sites. Europa Nostra has shortlisted Victoria Tower Gardens as 1 of the sites in Europe at serious risk, marking international recognition of the threats facing this important listed landscape. 📷: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0