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Mayor's £18m scheme to pedestrianise Parliament
Mark Blunden, Evening Standard21.01.08
Plans to part-pedestrianise Parliament Square have been unveiled.
The £18 million blueprint involves closing the road that separates the western side of the square from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament to traffic.
Cars will be redirected around the eastern side of the square - a design similar to the Mayor's partial closure of Trafalgar Square five years ago.
The plans, which will put out to public consultation in May, have been drawn up by Vogt Landscape Architects, the Swiss firm responsible for some of the South Bank redevelopment.
It is understood that Ken Livingstone wants to transform the congestion-blighted spot into a tourist attraction in time for the 2012 Olympics.
Eight listed statues - including one of Sir Winston Churchill - will be shifted away from the area to clear it of "clutter". A full planning application is expected in August.
The £25million transformation of Trafalgar Square was designed by Lord Foster, and caused initial complaints from drivers about gridlock in surrounding streets.
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It is dismaying, and even insulting, that those responsible for our public realm and our cultural heritage should describe the eight statues of admired world leaders in Parliament Square as "clutter". Is it acceptable that Churchill, the man who led us against the greatest tyranny in history, should be described as "clutter"? What greater insult could we offer the Americans than calling their own greatest national figure, Abraham Lincoln, the man who freed the slaves, "clutter" - particularly at the end of the year in which we have been celebrating the abolition of slavery? London's historic statues are an integral part of its character and culture. What impression will it leave on the Olympic tourists when they learn that London had actually removed its historic statutes because they were regarded as "clutter"? It is the traffic and inaccessibility which blight the Square; the statues enhance it and make it inspiring. English Heritage must refuse these misguided proposals, and Londoners must make clear, when the consultation is published, that they will not tolerate this assault on our history and our heritage, and remember Ambrose Bierce's definition of "consult" in his 1911 Devil's Dictionary - "To seek another's approval for a course of action which has already been decided upon"!
- Michael Hammerson, Policy Consultant, The Civic Trust, London, England
