Catherine the Great admired our talent for creating views, and so did Goethe and Frederick Law Olmsted, the creator of Central Park, New York. It is an art form in which Britain excels and one which has a direct impact on our wellbeing – good views are good for you.

And yet a particularly lovely and historic view, at the heart of our capital, is under threat from a planned block of luxury flats. It is as if we were standing idly by while a Constable was being threatened with a Stanley knife.

The St James’s Park view in question is as captivating to visitors such as me, as to Londoners. Looking east as you stand on the footbridge in the middle of the park it is hard to believe you are in London. It is an almost pastoral scene. The willow-tickled lake and bosky Duck Island are framed by Horse Guards (designed by William Kent) and the fairytale white domes of the old War Office on the left, and by the old India Office (designed by Gilbert Scott) and the graceful curve of the Millennium Wheel on the right. Pelicans, which were first introduced in 1664, float across the water giving a curiously exotic touch to the scene where Charles II used to walk his dogs at high speed, in a bid to keep ahead of petitioners.

The trees surrounding Duck Island give the illusion that the lake is a river and that woods, water and sky continue ad infinitum. That delightful illusion will be shattered by the top storeys of a block of luxury flats, 144m (472 feet) high. The idea of shoving a block of flats in the middle of this view is shocking, but Lambeth council granted planning permission for the development last week. Now, the only person who can stop this blot on our precious landscape is the Mayor of London. He has only days to do so.

Ken Livingstone has two reasons to intervene. One is to do with Britain’s talent for view-making and the way our culture has evolved: rus in urbe exists even here at the centre of national power, with St James’s Palace on one side, Buckingham Palace on another and Westminster Palace a few steps towards the River. The other reason is to do with the health and happiness of the many millions who stroll through this once royal garden.

That our wellbeing is affected by our surroundings is confirmed by the recent report showing that patient recovery time is accelerated by an attractive view. The sense of delight and happiness a beautiful outlook conjures up is worth fighting for; a few privileged flat-dwellers should not be allowed to destroy what should belong to all the nation.

I appeal wholeheartedly to Mr Livingstone to look at the view itself and as it appears in his London View Management Framework published in July. To allow this vista to be destroyed by development would, at very least, be contravening the mayor’s own policy.

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