§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on the reasons for permitting the demolition of the twin towers at Wembley Stadium. [136241]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthApproval for the demolition of the twin towers was given by the London Borough of Brent following an application for planning and listed building consent made by Wembley National Stadium Ltd. As the stadium has Grade II listed status, the application for listed building consent was accompanied by a full Heritage Study which considered the question of whether the stadium was capable of adaptation and the feasibility of retaining the twin towers. The new stadium will extend to the north of the existing stadium, and will be considerably higher than the towers if they were reconstructed and incorporated in the new design. In view of these considerations, and having taken into account the merits of the proposed replacement stadium, and wider community benefits, English Heritage, who are a statutory consultee for such applications, did not raise any objections to the application for listed building consent.