The New Mayor And The Cultural Heritage

Shortly before the recent Mayoral elections, our new LAMAS President, Professor Caroline Barron, wrote to the main party candidates seeking a clear statement of their views on what value they saw in London’s historical and archaeological heritage, the role they considered it should play in London’s future and the policies towards it they would adopt if elected.

Boris Johnson replied as follows on 19 April, two weeks before his election as Mayor:

'As mayor I will work tirelessly to protect London's cultural heritage and preserve its historic buildings and skyline. As you are aware, Ken Livingston's London Plan gives licence to developers to destroy our historic views, especially around St Paul's Cathedral. The Tower of London and Palace of Westminster are now on UNESCO's list of endangered heritage sites, and face as dangerous a future as sites such as the Minaret in Afghanistan and the Ashur Palace in Iraq.

'As Mayor I would amend the London Plan to protect a series of our historic views and will refuse planning applications that threaten our heritage sites. In addition I oppose the construction of the third runway at Heathrow Airport.'