Protesters step up campaign to keep Bomber Command tribute out of park

Published: 26 November, 2010
by JOSH LOEB

Pilots’ memorial ‘destructive’

WHITE ribbons were tied around trees in protest at the “destructive impact” of the giant Bomber Command memorial set to be built in Green Park next year.

The Green Party and the Thorney Island Society are staging a last-ditch campaign to convince the Bomber Command Association to reconsider their controversial plans, which were approved by Westminster Council earlier this year.

This week they launched a petition calling for the monument to be relocated to a “more suitable location” such as Embankment, where it would be close to the Battle of Britain memorial.

Wearing a flying jacket belonging to her father, an RAF pilot, Juliet Lyle from the Friends of Green Park group and the Green Party, said: “David Cameron and Gordon Brown, who was prime minister at the time, expressed support for the notion of a memorial to Bomber Command, not for the proposal in Green Park. There is a big difference. Also many of the donors and supporters were not aware of the destructive impact on the park that would be caused.”

Construction of the 85-metre-long memorial near Hyde Park Corner – an area campaigners say is already “saturated” with monuments – is expected to involve cutting down nine trees, some more than 100 years old.

Sharon Johnson, chief executive of charity Trees for Cities, said: “The ancient trees of Green Park are of immense value to the city. 

“The park is an essential breathing space for Westminster which improves the health and wellbeing of residents and workers. 

“We appreciate the need for a memorial to the huge sacrifice Second World War airmen made, but we urge the proposers of the memorial to consider alternative sites where the local environment will not suffer.”

Last week the Bomber Command Association announced that the memorial would be going ahead as sufficient funds had been raised to cover construction costs, but they added that they were still looking for money to fund the upkeep of the structure.

The Bomber Command Association declined to comment.

• The Friends of The Green Park petition can be viewed at http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40898.html