England: India Club saved from closure
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Jawaharlal Nehru
A venue in legal London said to be at the heart of the Indian independence movement has been saved from destruction after a local authority refused permission for its redevelopment, The Times reports.
The freeholder of the India Club on the Strand wanted to redevelop the building into a hotel but the move led to an outcry from the club’s supporters who pointed to its history in the independence movement and its use as a meeting place for the country’s diaspora in the 1950s.
The club’s founding members included Countess Mountbatten, wife of Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, as well as Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister.
A petition seeking listed status for the building garnered 26,000 signatures and, while that failed, Westminster Council has now refused permission for the redevelopment.
Tony Devenish, chairman of the planning applications sub-committee, said the India Club had “a special place in the history of our Indian community and it is right that we protect it from demolition”.
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