BUREAUCRACY AND BANKSIDE
Snt,—In The Spectator of May 9th Janus refers to the Government's decision to proceed with the building of a power station on Bankside as an issue between democracy and bureaucracy ; and, in his admirable letter to The Times on the same subject (2/5/47), Mr. Joseph Binns ends with these words, "Heaven help our plans for a new London if we let them get away with this one." Mr. Binns is right. This is a test case. If Mr. Silkin is allowed to get his way, what is to prevent Government offices from being built in Abingdon Street as foreshadowed by the Dean of Westminster? If this is permitted, the fact that there are those in Parliament who consider "all talk of amenities to be balderdash" will mean that no lovely or precious building is safe, and many will risk sharing the fate of Waterloo Bridge, the Adelphi Terrace, Regent Street, the City churches and a host of other irreplaceable buildings. If amenities mean nothing to these persons, what about good hard cash? Will not oversea visitors, especially Americans, decide to spend their money in France. and other Continental cities where the "invisible assets" of beautiful buildings and lovely vistas are appreciated, rather than in Britain where it would seem they ale not?
One of the most disquieting aspects of the question is that the Minister of Town and Country Planning is reported to have said during the debate that a lot of hysterical talk had taken place and that the House and the country as a whole were in favour of his decision. To put it mildly, this statement is inaccurate. ,On no other similar occasion that one can remember have the experts, councils, societies, architects (with the notable exception of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott) and planners been so completely of one mind. We trust, therefore, that the London County Council, the Southwark Council, the City Corporation, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Authorities of St. Paul's Cathedral, the great town-planners, the Press and Parliament will help us ordinary people in our efforts to refuse to allow the bureaucrats to win the day. We beg them to continue to press, in public and in private, for the rescinding of this distressing
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