Griff Rhys Jones Letter to The Times

London Historians is a member and active supporter of LISSCA – the Liverpool Street Station Campaign. We are but one of many heritage groups under this umbrella. The Victorian Society is the prime mover, led by its President Griff Rhys Jones who has an admirable track record in heritage protection. The aim of LISSCA is to thwart a development proposal by Sellar and Network Rail to heavily alter the station’s concourse and to build an office tower next door above the Grade II listed neighbouring hotel. You may have seen this campaign in the media this past four months. You may have signed the petition (thanks!). But the committee recently decided that rather than play planning permission ping-pong with the developers, Corporation of London and other parties, to go directly to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ‘call in’ the proposal. Essentially, to nip it in the bud. This person is Michael Gove.

The Times  has published the letter and in case you can’t get to read it owing to the paywall, here it is:
The signatories are:
Sir Charles Saumarez Smith FSA, FRIBA
Philip Davies, MRTPI, IHBC, FRHist.S, FRAS, FSA, former Planning and Development Director, English Heritage
A.N. Wilson
Dr Simon Thurley CBE
The Rt Hon. the Lord Howarth of Newport CBE
John Makinson CBE
Professor Richard Sennett OBE, FBA, FRSL
The Baroness Andrews OBE
Stephen Fry
Ptolemy Dean OBE, FSA
Anna Keay OBE, Director The Landmark Trust
Tracey Emin CBE
Professor John Darlington, Executive Director, World Monuments Fund, FSA
The Lord Shipley OBE
The Lord Carrington of Fulham
Professor Hilary J Grainger OBE, Professor Emerita in Architectural History at University of the Arts London and Honorary Professor at Durham University, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Victorian Society.
Jonathan Glancey FRIBA
Professor Emeritus Neil Jackson FSA, past-President Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain
Angela Brady OBE, PPRIBA
Joe O’Donnell, Director, The Victorian Society
David Adshead, FSA, Director, The Georgian Group
Catherine Croft, Director, The Twentieth Century Society
Liz Power, Director, Historic Buildings and Places
Neil Redfern, Executive Director, Council for British Archaeology FSA
Henrietta Billings, Director, SAVE Britain’s Heritage
Benjamin Derbyshire PPRIBA, FRSA, Historic England Commissioner, President London Forum of Amenity & Civic Societies
Jane Duncan OBE, PPRIBA
Ian Harvey, Executive Director, Civic Voice, FRSA, SFIPM
Edward Mirzoeff CBE
Patrick Streeter, Trustee, The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust
Mike Paterson, Director, London Historians
Steve Jackson FRSA, Chairman, The Betjeman Society
Gillian Tindall FRSL, past-President of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
Jeremy Musson FSA, Editor The Victorian

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