Michael Gove has ordered a public inquiry into Marks & Spencer’s plan to demolish and rebuild its flagship Oxford Street store after activists claimed it would release 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Westminster City Council has approved a plan to demolish the 90-year-old store near Marble Arch, but the Secretary of State for Leveling, Housing and Communities has called for the development plan amid demands increasing for the reuse of buildings that encompass large quantities. of carbon.
However, Marks & Spencer responded to Gove’s “great political position”, insisting that in the long run, the new more energy-efficient building “will more than offset the emissions from redevelopment”.
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Noting that climate change considerations are becoming increasingly important for planning decisions, Gove has commissioned an inspector to determine whether the scheme is consistent with national planning policy, citing a chapter that reads: planning system should support the transition to a low carbon system. [and] to shape places in a way that helps to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ”
In November 2021, Gove rejected plans for an observation tower in the City of London designed by Lord Foster, complaining about the “highly unsustainable concept of using large amounts of reinforced concrete”.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, decided not to comment on the M&S application, considering that it was in line with the capital’s planning strategy.
The Save Britain’s Heritage campaign group and Architects’ Journal organized a letter to Gove, signed by several prominent architects, arguing that the existing building should be refurbished rather than demolished.
He described it as “a development that is an environmental waste, destroys an elegant and important interwar building and … negatively affects Oxford Street”.
Architects such as Julia Barfield, co-designer of the London Eye, and Robert Adam, a favorite architect of Prince Charles, signed the letter, which read: “We should adapt the building, not destroy it.”
But Marks & Spencer property director Sacha Berendji said Tuesday that the retailer was “baffled and disappointed by Michael Gove’s baseless decision” to order a public inquiry. Berendji said the building “cannot be modernized by refurbishing, as it is three separate buildings containing asbestos.”
He said: “Twenty per cent of Oxford Street units were vacant and the Secretary of State seems to prefer a proliferation of shops selling counterfeit goods to a regeneration run by standard retail.” He added that the decision would have a “creepy effect on regeneration programs across the country.”
“An independent assessment of the building’s carbon footprint throughout its life cycle concluded that the new construction offered significant sustainability benefits over a refurbishment and, once completed, will be among the buildings with the highest performance. 10% higher than London, “he said.