Sign in

Save Victoria Tower Gardens

@savevtg.bsky.social
179 followers 196 following 92 posts

Still fighting to protect Victoria Tower Gardens from construction and disruption.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Meg Howarth @howarthm.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
#PublicSpace #London *this shameless landgrab shd be seen as part of the much wider picture of public #GreenSpaces being appropriated by those who see #parks as empty plots for construction or commercial activity* RSVP @miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social 😡 @pickardje.bsky.social @katie0martin.ft.com
021
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Below, an update on our campaign. The Holocaust Memorial Bill has now received Royal Assent. Once the diggers move in there will be no going back, so we will now be campaigning for a fresh planning inquiry. www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-go...
crowdjustice.com
Stop Government abusing planning rules to build on iconic public park
London Gardens Trust is a small charity with a big mission to champion London’s historic parks, gardens, squares and green spaces for the benefit of everyone. Case advisor: Richard Buxton Solicitors
243
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Survivors including Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Martin Stern and, below, Joanna Milan BEM disagree with the minister. They want it done right.
000
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
If the Tory Govt had followed due process and properly considered alternative locations, it could have been operational long before now. The current proposal fails against almost all of 2015 Holocaust Commission report’s recommendations. Many survivors and Holocaust educators oppose it.
000
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
‘If you think London’s parks are protected, think again.’ - Alice Robert, CPRE www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Judi Dench backs campaign to protect London’s green spaces from developers
Actor says it is ‘more important than ever’ to safeguard city’s parks as report finds more than 50 are at risk
031
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
House of Lords: ‘The sole purpose of any Learning Centre must be the provision of education about the Holocaust and antisemitism.’ Government: ‘Nope.’ #HowDidWeGetHere #MakeItMakeSense #HolocaustMemorial #Westminster #VictoriaTowerGardens
110
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
If the Holocaust Memorial Bill is passed, the project will again require planning permission. We have repeatedly asked for a new planning inquiry given the many changes since the original decision but the Govt will not commit to this. Our campaign continues.…!
162
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Holocaust Memorial Bill returns to the Commons on Tues 20 Jan. MPs will discuss one Lords amendment: "The sole purpose of any Learning Centre must be the provision of education about the Holocaust and antisemitism.” The Government intends to deny this request and has restricted debate to 1 hour!
041
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Yes. A handy summary of where we’re at. Slight inaccuracy regarding Richard Buxton!
000
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
I think his involvement was a bit earlier in the process than that. But he was certainly one of the Secs of State who wheeled and dealed to make it happen.
000
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Esther Webber @estwebber.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
I wrote about London's new Holocaust memorial, due to get the green light this year. Supporters believe the project has already been delayed for too long. But critics fear it will oversimplify Britain’s relationship with its past and with present-day antisemitism. www.politico.eu/article/brit...
politico.eu
Britain’s troubled Holocaust memorial
Stalled for more than a decade, a memorial in the shadow of the U.K. Parliament has stirred strong emotions — and very British planning objections.
162
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Hi Esther, some interesting new insights in your article. Thanks! One small correction: Richard Buxton is an environmental solicitor who has campaigned against this location for the memorial. He is also a descendant of Thomas Fowell Buxton, to whom the Buxton Memorial is actually dedicated.
010
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Patricia Stoughton @patriciastoughton.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
The Christmas tree in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster.
For the children's playground you can see a small shelter on the right, a stone ram and leaf-shorn plane trees on the left, and in the middle a Christmas tree with a star on the top, and beyond, the Palace of Westminster and, if you look carefully, a half glimpse of Big Ben.
0174
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Victoria Tower Gardens
1874
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
👍🏼
010
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Patricia Stoughton @patriciastoughton.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
The Buxton Memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens, by the RiverThames in London, revealed after a complex restoration.
Commemorating those who fought against slavery: ‘Wilberforce, Clarkson, Macaulay, Brougham, Dr Lushington, and others’. Their ultimate success was the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, and the emancipation of slaves which followed in 1834 is commemorated on the plaque." 
http://www.speel.me.uk/sculptlondon/buxtonmemfountain.htm
1172
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
www.museumsassociation.org/museums-jour...
museumsassociation.org
Tristram Hunt is right: the Holocaust Learning Centre is a bad idea - Museums Association
Who is scrutinising the government’s controversial plans for an underground venue in Westminster, asks Clare Annamalai
243
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Almost certainly! The UK government used similar tactics in 2019, when they employed ‘social impact agency’ Big Ideas, at a cost of £118k to the taxpayer, to subvert the planning consultation system in the case of the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre.
163
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Praise and thanks to the peers who were in the @houseoflords.parliament.uk chamber until 01.20 last night, voting in support of amendments to the Holocaust Memorial Bill.
Images of peers speaking in the House of Lords.
340
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Phil Rosenberg of @boardofdeputies.bsky.social writing on his own account because the Board has never given Deputies a vote on the UK Holocaust Memorial proposal for Victoria Tower Gardens.
110
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Charles Moore writes in today’s @telegraphnews.bsky.social about the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre proposed for Victoria Tower Gardens, which returns to @houseoflords.parliament.uk tomorrow.
542
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Note how Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington avoids answering the concerns about public access to Victoria Tower Gardens.
030
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
If the UKHM exists in Victoria Tower Gardens it will mean and cancellation of the park on security grounds. And what does Mr Gardner mean by ‘Westminster’? The UK Holocaust Memorial promoters have never suggested anywhere in Westminster other than VTG. @houseoflords.parliament.uk
010
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
We’ll never know. Because nobody else has proposed building anything in this Grade II listed park. UK Holocaust Memorial Save Victoria Tower Gardens
110
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Few places better to watch the Thames roll by than lovely Victoria Tower Gardens. #SaveVictoriaTowerGardens
073
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
The UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre, as currently proposed, is ‘a terribly bad idea’ and ‘massive misallocation of resources’. Exactly right, Tristram Hunt. @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social @rachelblakemp.bsky.social @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social
021
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
And finally saying what many museum and cultural sector leaders must be thinking: That excavating a park to build a tiny, poorly-defined learning centre, when public funding is in such short supply, is ‘a terribly bad idea’.
000
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Today in @thetimes.com, #TristramHunt of #V&A and the new #EastStorehouse, says what many museum and cultural sector leaders are thinking about the proposed #UKHolocaustMemorial and #LearningCentre.
085
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Athena in @countrylifemag.bsky.social hits the nail on the head: ‘The uncompromising attitude of those responsible for driving it forward….to admit no reasonable objection….Indeed, why should they when the whole system is being managed to their advantage?’ #VictoriaTowerGardens #UKHolocaustMemorial
233
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Patricia Stoughton @patriciastoughton.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Good morning friends. See my latest article here: thetidalthames.com/2025/05/18/t...
0104
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Good work from @privateeyenews.bsky.social. They’ve covered this “divisive project” from the start, and they’re still on the case. #UKHolocaustMemorial #VictoriaTowerGardens
034
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
With the Board of Deputies trying to manage differences of opinion this week, we’re reminded of Deputies’ less-than-enthusiastic response to the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre - a project that’s implacably supported by their leaders.
132
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
The desire for a united front has prevented @boardofdeputies.bsky.social leaders from ever holding a vote on the UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre proposal. The leadership supports it, but knows very well that many deputies don’t.
031
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Victoria Tower Gardens being enjoyed yesterday, and closed today in preparation for today’s Yom Hashoah event. Always sad to see the park closed, but infinitely preferable to having it excavated, built upon and security guarded for the ill-conceived UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre.
People lying on the lawn in a sunny Victoria Tower GardensThe gate to Victoria Tower Gardens, with a notice of closure for the day.
032
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
This latest pronouncement from @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social makes a mockery of the 7.5% figure that promoters have always claimed would be occupied by the UK Holocaust Memorial. Because who will use the grassy mound like the people *in the promoter’s own visuals* if arrest is a possibility?
052
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Aha….so it will take up “approximately 7.5% of the area of #VictoriaTowerGardens, but setting a square metreage for the #HolocaustMemorial & Learning Centre would “MAKE THE PROPOSED SCHEME UNDELIVERABLE” Whaaatt??
142
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
#LordIanAustin on Thursday, vs Lord Ian Austin on Friday. Still not quite learning to think before he tweets.
032
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
That 50 sites were considered, before VTG was chosen in ‘a moment of genius’. But we’re the fantasists.
031
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
That it will take up a mere 7.5% of the park (but please don’t hold them to square footages, because that would ‘make the proposed scheme undeliverable’. In fact, don’t use measurements at all. Just look at the ‘little lines’ on the plan.) But we’re the fantasists.
121
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
That it will attract 1m visitors a year and be ‘the most visited Holocaust museum anywhere in the world’. But we’re the fantasists.
100
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Whereas supporters claim that construction will only cost £191m, and Adjaye had nothing to do with the design. 🧵 But we’re the fantasists.
131
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Just #IanAustin joking about fire risk on a project where #EricPickles is involved. #HolocaustMemorial #Lakanal
043
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Excellent news from #EuropaNostra, @eib and our allies at #LondonParksAndGardensTrust #7MostEndangered
0105
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
A competition that no one really wants to be in. But very grateful to #EuropaNostra for recognising the value of #VictoriaTowerGardens and the severity of the current risk to it. www.europanostra.org/europa-nostr...
europanostra.org
Europa Nostra and EIB Institute announce Europe’s 7 Most Endangered Heritage Sites for 2025 - Europa Nostra
Press releases (in 8 languages) and photos can be downloaded at the bottom of this webpage The list of the 7 Most Endangered monuments and heritage…
087
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
rabbiromain.bsky.social @rabbiromain.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
There’s been a lot of controversy about the proposed Holocaust Memorial in Westminster: as a rabbi, I’d prefer to scrap it & put the £100+ million into education in schools nationally about Jewish life & values; that’d be much more effective than a static memorial in one place.
1115
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
🧐
000
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Gino Spocchia @ginospoc.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
This week's Lords debate on the Holocaust Memorial Bill, featuring a comparison of Adjaye and Arad to... Pablo Picasso
architectsjournal.co.uk
Tory peer brands ‘discredited’ Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial ‘grotesquely ugly’
David Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial design has been slammed as ‘grotesquely ugly’ and the architect described as ‘descredited’ by a shadow minister in the House of Lords
167
Reposted by Save Victoria Tower Gardens
Architects' Journal @news.architectsjournal.co.uk · 07/03/2025
NEWS | Tory peer brands ‘discredited’ Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial ‘grotesquely ugly’ www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/tory-pe...
architectsjournal.co.uk
Tory peer brands ‘discredited’ Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial ‘grotesquely ugly’
David Adjaye’s Holocaust memorial design has been slammed as ‘grotesquely ugly’ and the architect described as ‘discredited’ by a shadow minister in the House of Lords
053
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Sir Trevor is not the only leading Jewish philanthropist to have questioned the current UK Holocaust Memorial proposal. #DameVivienDuffield #philanthropy
042
Save Victoria Tower Gardens @savevtg.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
“An answer in search of a question.” Sir Trevor Pears’ assessment of the proposed Holocaust Learning Centre. #Holocaust #education #memorial #parks #philanthropy
121