Britain approves controversial plan to build a Holocaust museum next to Parliament

The UK government has approved a controversial plan for a Holocaust museum next to the Houses of Parliament.

Government Planning Minister Chris Pincher supported the Planning Inspectorate, who said that the multi-million dollar plan for the UNK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Center in Victoria Tower Gardens should go ahead.

The plan would see the museum on a site close to London’s landmark Big Ben clock tower and would include an underground basement mezzanine in a landscaped area.
Critics of the project have denounced the museum’s seating next to the Palace of Westminster, home of the House of Lords and Commons and adjacent to Westminster Abbey.

In a 14-page ruling, Pincher concluded that the plan’s significant public benefits are sufficient to demonstrate the identified disadvantages that the proposals have caused.
Save Victoria Tower Gardens, a campaign group, waged a fight against the project, saying that there is undoubtedly a need for Holocaust education, an alternative site should be found, and that their lawyers are reading the full decision and considering next steps.