§ Lord Reaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What further provisions they are making for the preservation of the remains of the Rose Theatre.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Hesketh)On 15th May my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced that Imry Merchant Developers had agreed to delay work on the site of the Rose Theatre for up to one month. This gave a breathing space to enable further consideration to be given to the options for preserving the remains and allowing their public display.
The new design recently announced by Imrys at an extra cost of £ 10m would, if it receives planning permission from the London Borough of Southwark, both protect the remains and allow their proper evaluation and display.
We have carefully considered whether the remains of the Rose Theatre should be scheduled. We have consulted our expert advisers, English Heritage, who have been closely involved in all the discussions and whose expert archaeological team is now in charge of the site. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has announced today that we have concluded that scheduling the site now would achieve no better solution than has been achieved voluntarily. We would reconsider scheduling if it became necessary in order to protect the remains.