§ LORD BEAUMONT OF WHITLEYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a final decision has been made on erecting an extension to the Tate Gallery on the site occupied by Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital.
§ THE PAYMASTER GENERAL (VISCOUNT ECCLES)My Lords, the site, which was offered to the Trustees of the Tate Gallery by the previous Government, will not be available until 1976. Consideration of the Trustees' proposals has begun but the timing of a scheme will depend on how the requirements can be translated into plans and on the resources available.
§ LORD BEAUMONT OF WHITLEYMy Lords, while thanking the Minister for that Answer, may I ask whether there is yet any hope that this particular part of the riverside townscape will be preserved and that a new modern art museum, which is badly needed, will be built?
§ VISCOUNT ECCLESMy Lords, the question of the townscape is really for my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, but I think the noble Lord will agree that when the two parts of the Tate Gallery are separated by Bulinga Street it is obvious that one part will become the modern art gallery and the other will house the collection of British Art over the centuries.
§ LORD STRABOLGIMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether he is aware that already a year has been lost and 906 unless the Government make a decision soon it will not be possible to start work when the site becomes available in 1976?
§ VISCOUNT ECCLESMy Lords, my information is that the hospital will not be ready to move until the end of 1976; therefore there is ample time to do the planning. It is a matter of considerable complexity.