Forward from Gothic It is not easy to become enthusiastic
about a piece of town planning which, it is said, may take fifty years to complete. Still, the plan for rede- veloping Whitehall and Parliament Square de- serves a general welcome. The idea of a traffic- free precinct is very attractive. One's only anxiety is whether the price to be paid will not be simply greater congestion elsewhere. That is why really forward-looking planning of this kind must be applied to London as a whole, not simply a fav- oured area. And the priorities must be got right. The multitude who live in London slums will not be consoled in their discomforts by the sight of an imposing new government quarter arising in the centre of their city.
It will be sad to see the Foreign Office building go. To sacrifice it seems quite unnecessary to the general purpose of the plan. But it is not sad at all to note that the proposed Gothic extension to the Houses of Parliament, which caused such general merriment a few months ago, has been quietly abandoned. Mr. Pannell, the Minister of Public Building and Works, was one of those responsible for recommending this bizarre project, along with Mrs. Barbara Castle and others. Mr. Pannell seemed a little sheepish about it this week. Now that the extension is to be across the street in- stead of adjoining the Palace of Westminster, a ready-made excuse for dropping the scheme pre- sented itself. Farewell, Barbara's Castle!
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