§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will extend the consultation period for the proposed memorial garden to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, to compensate for the delay of almost three weeks in the postal delivery of questionnaires to Kensington households. [HL2871]
§ Lord Monsonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Given that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not yet (by 23 July) sent leaflets and questionnaires regarding the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Garden proposals to every household in London W2, W8, W11, W14, SW 1, SW3, SW5, SW7 and SW10 as promised, whether they will extend the consultation process until the end of August. [HL3069]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyNo. The principal method of distributing the questionnaires was their free availability as from 10 July at the Albert Memorial Centre, where the proposals were fully displayed. There was wide publicity about the exhibition so that everyone had an opportunity to see the proposals and express their views during the consultation period which ended on 7 August.
Between 10 July and 20 July, leaflets, questionnaires and pre-paid envelopes were also distributed to households in the following postal districts: W 1, W2, W8, W11, W14, SW1, SW3, SW5, SW7 and SW10. The principal purpose of the distribution was to provide further publicity about the proposals especially for local residents and encourage them to comment having seen the full proposals rather than the summary leaflet, but it also clearly enabled those who were unable to visit the exhibition to express their views.
Those reporting non-delivery and requesting the material were sent it. The exhibition at the visitor centre had to close on 31 July, but in recognition of the fact that those who did not originally receive the leaflets may still have wanted to see the exhibition and the full proposals, we made arrangements with Kensington and Chelsea Council for the exhibition to be seen at Kensington Town Hall from 1–7 August, and with Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Councils to have the proposals available in the Town Hall and City Hall respectively, and in Mayfair and Paddington Libraries, with copies of the summary leaflet and questionnaire, until 7 August.