Letter: Historic debt we owe Raine
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.You do less than justice to Raine Spencer ("Why are they famous?", Real Life, 27 April). As chairman of the GLC Historic Buildings Committee she was the driving force behind the action, first local and later national, to preserve the historic cores of our cities from the Sixties property development boom. Not only would the Covent Garden Piazza have lost its character to anonymous high-rise boxes but also such small, attractive networks of residential streets as the Alwynes in Islington.
I was a councillor in planning in Lincoln at the time and of a different party, but there were times when I felt that she was the only local-government politician with clout in the country who both understood what was happening and recognised the urgency. Much had already disappeared, but her work and the conservation-area legislation which followed from it ensured that such wanton destruction could not happen again. Now, anyone taking an evening stroll around the cared-for streets of Georgian Bath or York or Lincoln may well be standing on what would be a car-park if it hadn't been for her.
Clodagh Wilkinson
London W11
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments