Member

Amendment 17 from the noble Lord, Lord Strathcarron, seeks to stop any developments on parts of Victoria Tower Gardens not already occupied by the Holocaust memorial and learning centre once it is built. The Holocaust Memorial Bill does not repeal the provisions of the 1900 Act, which will continue to require that Victoria Tower Gardens be maintained as a garden open to the public. The Bill is intended to deal with a very specific matter which arises in a precise location. The Bill seeks to remove restrictions only in relation to the construction, use, operation, maintenance or improvement of a Holocaust memorial and learning centre. Lifting the restriction that the 1900 Act currently provides will not remove the need for planning permission before the memorial and learning centre can be constructed. Similarly, any extension to the Holocaust memorial and learning centre, or any proposal for another structure of whatever kind, would be subject to a fresh planning application. This new clause is therefore unnecessary, and I respectfully ask the noble Lord not to press his amendment.