Stay of execution for education centre aimed at children visiting Parliament

By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter

A temporary education centre opened in 2015 for schoolchildren visiting Parliament has been given the go-ahead to continue operating five years longer than initially planned.

Located at the northern end of Victoria Tower Gardens, the building was only intended to be used until July 2025. However, due to delays to the Palace of Westminster and the wider Parliamentary Estate’s ‘restoration and renewal programme’, the House of Commons deemed it necessary to ask Westminster City council for permission to extend its lifespan until the end of 2030.

According to council planning officers, the two key issues with the application related to the principle of retaining a development the size of the centre on the Grade-II listed gardens, and its impact on heritage assets, such as Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster.

Objections were received by consultees The Thorney Island Society, Historic England and London Parks and Gardens, plus one resident, primarily due to the perceived harm caused to the gardens.

Officers however deemed any concerns to be secondary to the public benefits, in particular providing education for schoolchildren and the jobs at the centre. As such, the application was recommended for approval, though with the note that any further extension would not be supported.

Speaking at last night’s Planning Applications Sub-Committee meeting (August 20), James Young from the Parliamentary Estates highlighted the work the centre does as an ‘award-winning programme’. He added the delays to relocating the building are due to the hold-ups in the wider restoration and renewal project, with no reasonable alternative site identified on the estate.

“That extension would allow time to find an agreed new space to provide an alternative location or arrangement for the continuation of Parliament’s education programme,” he said.

Helen Monger, from London Parks and Gardens, however claimed the requested additional five-plus years would cause further harm to Victoria Tower Gardens, and that the Government has had plenty of time to find a new home for the centre.

“The Government has had 10 years in which to find Plan B or even Plan C, and yet they come up with the excuse that there are no alternatives,” she told the committee.

“This park belongs to the people of Westminster, whether it’s people who come to work, to live or to play.”

Members acknowledged the frustration with the request, though voted unanimously to approve the extension to December 31, 2030.

The centre hosts five teaching and learning spaces, plus ancillary areas, and welcomes more than 80,000 students and teachers during term times. More than half a million people have visited the centre since it was unveiled almost a decade ago by Professor Brian Cox.

Pictured top: Parliament’s temporary Education Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens (Picture: LDRS)