The $1.6 billion project is on hold after the government intervened to consider issues including the effect any new scheme would have on views of the Houses of Parliament and its clock tower nicknamed Big Ben – a UNESCO world heritage site on the opposite side of the city's river Thames.
"Ministers are very selective about calling in planning applications and only take this step if planning issues of more than local importance are involved," a spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government told Reuters.
The
