Green Party activists will join Westminster residents and conservationists [1] from across the capital, for a ‘Walk in The Green Park’ tomorrow (Tuesday 23rd November) in a last ditch attempt to save ancient parkland from destruction as proposals for a war memorial costing £5 million get the go ahead to start construction in January 2011.
The groups will tie ribbons around the trees earmarked for felling near to Hyde Park Corner, in an appeal to the Bomber Command Association and its donors to reconsider their choice of site for the memorial.
Opponents say the plans will destroy biodiversity, cause the loss of ancient trees, mar the special character and tradition of the parkland, alter ground levels and forever change the centuries old physical historical boundary between town and country.
Westminster resident and Green Party activist who is co-ordinating the event, Juliet Lyle said:
"Other sites have been offered to Bomber Command which are much more suitable, such as The Embankment near the Battle of Britain and Fighter Command memorials. Those who died for our country could then be remembered with their comrades, which is very important to them. I think hundreds of tonnes of Portland Stone should stay in Portland and they should leave our lovely park to nature as it was designed.
"To damage the natural parkland which has been enjoyed by all for centuries when a suitable alternative site exists, defies all understanding. The United Nations named 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, yet London doesn’t listen. We should be planting more trees and increasing and improving wildlife habitats not uprooting mature trees and hedges in an historic central London park."
Questions are being asked as to how and why Westminster Council refrained from exercising a duty of care to protect the heritage parkland when policies have been established for this purpose, explicitly stating: "no more memorials in the area".
Notes to Editors
[1] Friends of The Green Park, Friends of the Earth, Trees for Cities, Soho Green, The Residents Society of Mayfair and St James’s, and Buckingham Gate Neighbourhood Watch, have all been invited to join the Green Party’s ‘Walk in The Green Park’event.