On Friday 17th May, exactly a month after the Committee hearing on LWW, Michael Gove lifted the Article 31 Holding Direction and gave the City of London the go-ahead to destroy Bastion House and the Old Museum of London and erect their two ill-conceived, carbon-hungry and oversized office towers. Speculative financial gain trumps our environment and heritage, yet again.
With its so-called plans for achieving net zero – as set out the day after they awarded themselves planning permission for LWW – it does feel as if the City of London is betraying its residents, its workers and its heritage, as well as ignoring the climate experts. The question persists: how are they getting away with the wanton and dangerous destruction they are embarked upon in the face of such compelling environmental and heritage evidence to the contrary?
WE URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP
The fight, however, is by no means over. We would not have got this far without your fantastic support and we now need your help again to take further action to try to defeat this shameful scheme, and the precedent created if it is allowed to go ahead.
Together we have delayed the City’s plans for LWW by some two years, but we’re now at the crunch point. We have compelled the City to look at retention and retrofit options, but they continue to refuse to factor the results into their plans. There is considerable media interest in our campaign, with critical commentary from experts and opposition to the scheme across all political parties.
This is not the point to give up.
Please continue to donate to help us meet our £50,000 target to cover the legal costs necessary to continue our fight against this scheme.
Please share our crowd-funder far and wide so we can drum up still more support.
If everyone gave a minimum of £20, we would be well on our way. And any larger donations would help us hit our target more quickly. Time is of the essence.
Our campaign is not just about LWW. It is about ensuring that climate change and the history and heritage of our buildings are afforded due weight when planning decisions are made in the City of London. Our local authorities must be held to account for their planning policy choices.
BQA exists to fight for responsible decision-making around the built environment in the City of London – decisions that will affect many lives and many generations to come.
Thank you for your support so far and for any future donations you are able to make.
