As we approach Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army in 1945 – we might spare a thought for the unsung David Morgan. He is the planning inspector whose task it is to make a recommendation to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on a proposal to create a national Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre located in the Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament. The proposal, originally made in 2015 by David Cameron, is supported by a range of eminent figures including other former prime ministers and more than 170 MPs and members of the House of Lords.
But in February 2020 Westminster City Council’s planning committee rejected the application, saying it contravened planning rules on size, design and location. Objections to the proposal had come from a number of groups including Historic England, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the London Gardens Trust, and the Royal Parks (to which Victoria Tower Gardens belong). Important archaeological remains would be obliterated by the excavations, it was said; there was a danger of flooding; trees would be destroyed; and the park, which forms part of a World Heritage Site, would be irreparably compromised.
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