No. 2 Marsham Street (Hansard, 17 December 1996)

§ Mr. Freeman

Responsibility for the use of No. 2 Marsham street has been delegated under the terms of its framework document to the Property Advisers to the Civil Estate under its chief executive, Mr. Neil Borrett. The agency is therefore responding to the question.

Letter from N. E. Borrett to Mr. Harry Greenaway, dated 13 December 1996: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has asked me to write to you in response to your Parliamentary Question regarding the future of 2 Marsham Street. The decision to demolish 2 Marsham Street was announced by the Secretary of State for the Environment in February 1992. The current occupants, the Department of the Environment, are to relocate to Ashdown House and Eland House in Victoria following the completion of fitting out works now in progress. These moves are likely to be completed around Easter 1997. The other occupants of 2 Marsham Street, the Department of Transport, were successfully relocated to Great Minster House in 1995. An international urban design competition was held earlier this year to produce designs which will guide the master planning for the future redevelopment of the site. Entrants were asked to submit designs which promoted a mixture of uses, make effective use of the available space and related well with the site's urban context. The results of the competition were announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in October. Work is planned to start on the demolition of 2 Marsham Street in April 1997 and to be completed in the Autumn of 1998, following which the site will be redeveloped for Government use if there is a requirement or sold.