Member

There are three projects going on, including the memorial, that conflict with each other. They all centre on Victoria Tower Gardens. One is the repair of Victoria Tower, delayed by some error in the procurement process but now expected to start imminently and run for at least five years. Its repair will need some occupation of the gardens. All the proposals for R&R involve the use of a chunk of the gardens as the main area for keeping all the equipment, for access to the Palace and so on. Two of the proposals for R&R involve tunnels under the Palace going into the gardens, with great upheaval—remembering also that the so-called learning centre will also be underground. It reminds me of the excitement involved in building the Channel Tunnel, when the teams starting in France and the teams starting here eventually met exactly in the middle. That is what they wanted to do, but it would be most unfortunate if it happened under Victoria Tower Gardens. The restoration and renewal works will reach nearly as far as the Buxton memorial, and the memorial will reach up to it from the other end.