Questions Raised Over Planning Process for “Temporary” Parliament Security Fence – Guido Fawkes

EXC: Questions Raised Over Planning Process for “Temporary” Parliament Security Fence

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The ugly new security fence around Parliament – at the House of Lords end – has caused a public outcry. Parliamentarians fencing themselves off while Britain’s borders are wide open, and it’s not clear how much of your money it cost…

Now Guido can reveal, according to multiple sources in the industry, that the planning process around the fence has been “highly irregular.” An expert describes the planning documents as “unusually heavily redacted” – some redactions are normal due to security concerns. Though in this case the documents are almost completely blank, so very few details are available to the public…

Permission for the fence to be up was only granted for the next ten years – meaning the structure is theoretically temporary. Though with the snail’s pace of decisions on Parliament’s refurbishment programme, it’s surely likely to become permanent by default. Parliament is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but there is no evidence of UNESCO having been consulted. Maybe the UK can leave the UN?

Now multiple questions have been tabled about it in parliament, after the farce of the Lords’ £9.6 million broken door – first revealed by Guido. Historic England said: “[Our advice to] Westminster City Council was that the current solution would be harmful, and that temporary consent should only be given to allow an appropriate permanent solution to be developed. In giving this advice, we were mindful that the safe working of Parliament is key to the continued use of this Grade I listed building, a use that is in itself part of the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site.” Build bridges not fences…