Government invites comments on updated planning documents for UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre
Victoria Tower Gardens. Photo: Andreas Praefcke – Wikimedia Commons
In Jan 2026, the Holocaust Memorial Act 2026 became law despite determined opposition inside and outside Parliament. It removed the legal barrier to building the proposed UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens.
Whilst the Victorian Society and the Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign do not object to the need for a Holocaust Memorial, the site it is given needs to be appropriate for the scale of the cause it highlights; simply, a larger plot elsewhere in the City is required to do justice to the Memorial.
The Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign calculates that over one-fifth of the Grade II listed gardens would become unusable as a public space. This loss would cause significant harm to the listed park both nationally and internationally; the cost of this harm was understood by the assessment of Europa Nostra’s advisory panel, placing it on the Seven Most Endangered programme in 2025.
The UK Government’s Planning Casework Unit has invited comments by Sunday 30th August on a set of documents, available here. Comments should be emailed to the decision-making Minister here.
Visualisation of the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre. Image: Adjaye Associates, Ron Arad and the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation
The campaign’s call is to ask the Minister for a fresh public inquiry so that the evidence can be tested openly rather than relying solely on the applicant’s written submissions. The Victorian Society will again be objecting in the strongest possible terms to the proposed site.
Read more about the Save Victoria Tower Gardens campaign here.
The Grade II* Buxton Memorial Fountain with the Houses of Parliament behind. Photo: patche99z
