Letter: Listed buildings are not for ever

From Mr Peter Ayley

Sir: The listing of buildings is not a way of freezing the past, as stated by Peter Popham ("Be listed, be damned", 27 November). It provides a degree of protection to certain buildings by requiring a bureaucratic procedure prior to any substantial changes. The Centre Point building may have been listed, but there could be consent granted for its demolition before the end of the year. Listing gives the question of change a public airing instead of allowing singular decision-making.

Control does not cause mediocrity; just as freedom from control does not obviate it, as in the Docklands.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Ayley

London, N1

27 November