MUCH AS EXPECTED, they do not “enhance” Victoria Tower Gardens in any way. To the contrary. MUCH AS EXPECTED, they completely obliterate the calm, peaceful atmosphere that is one of the current great attractions of this secret corner of Westminster. The new proposals will bring mounds, cypresses, wild flower meadows, fins, ramps and steps; meteorites and walls, hard-edged indentations in the lawn, benches and seats. Underground, we are presented with a choice of varying rabbit-warrens, with long, narrow and claustrophobic corridors leading to wide, generic, obscure rooms – each competitor painfully searching to conjure up a meaning for his/her foreign and abstract composition, all unwelcome intrusions into what is a rich and unique context that would be all the better for being left alone. The entries can now be seen at : https://competitions.malcolmreading.co.uk/holocaustmemorial/#shortlist With the organisers requesting feedback, we would be very grateful if you could please send your objections to: ukhmf@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Comments can be brief. It will be important however that as many of you as possible communicate your opposition to any building in the park, as numbers do matter! Please find following a series of arguments that you can adopt or adapt in your own emails : 1. The character of the park will be altered forever. It is currently used and much loved by local residents, office workers and visitors. 2. In its new incarnation as site for the Holocaust Memorial, the park will become a serious, somber “civic place”, totally incongruous in the context of the informal and relaxed family amenity that currently gives so much pleasure to residents of all ages. The two agendas do not mix well. 3. The proposals effectively take over the whole park, not, as originally promised by the organisers, a small portion of it. 4. The proposals are highly visible, and not at all in keeping with the identity of Victoria Tower Gardens, or sympathetic to the architecture of the Parliament buildings. 5. A million visitors per year are expected to visit this site. A large number of stairs/ramps/lifts, along with extensive paving, will become necessary to accommodate crowds that will be visiting. 6. Not surprisingly, the above required ancillary elements (disabled lifts etc), are expediently glossed over in the presentations, and inadequately shown on the drawings submitted, leading viewers and the jury to imagine a much more pristine site than will be possible to achieve. This is not realistic, it is misleading. We need to have accurate representations of how deliveries, disabled access, protection from the elements and services will be made to work. 7. The new Memorial, in many of the proposals, obscures the long views of the Houses of Parliament. Should this be allowed to happen, it would be contrary to policy, and would constitute a major, unforgivable planning mistake, no doubt regretted by future generations. 8. The Imperial War Museum is currently refurbishing and significantly upgrading its own Holocaust galleries. It would make much more sense to combine the two collections. Both from a physical and from an administrative perspective, it seems non-sensical to have two similar facilities .8 of a mile apart. 9. The profound aim of this project, promoting tolerance and understanding, is badly served by a project that sets out to be divisive and contentious. Of all undertakings, it should receive unanimous consent. Imposing such unwelcome solutions on a much-loved park will generate a high level of bad feelings, and would no doubt mark an unfortunate start to a memorial that wishes to bring people together, not set them apart. While we continue to oppose this project, we wish to state, once again, that we are against the Victoria Tower Gardens location of the Memorial and Learning Centre, not the principle of it.