Following the government’s approval of a controversial renovation of Marks & Spencer’s historic store on Oxford Street in London, activists are demanding that planning rules take the environmental effects of building demolition into account.
It comes after Secretary of State Angela Rayner’s much awaited ruling on December 5th which authorized M&S to tear down their iconic department store structure from the 1930s in order to construct a new office complex and ground floor grocery store near to the renowned Selfridges.
According to Save, embodied emissions from building construction and demolition amount to 40–50 million tonnes of CO2 annually which is greater than the total emissions from shipping and aircraft.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called 2024 “a masterclass in climate destruction” at Cop29 last month. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also pledged the country to a bold new goal at the same event that is reducing carbon emissions by at least 81% compared to 1990 levels.
Henrietta Billings, the director of Save said in their published article, “These are big numbers that can be tackled. Rethinking our wasteful knock-it-down-and-start-again approach to development and reusing and updating existing buildings like M&S Oxford Street is a win-win. It’s good for the planet and it’s good for our towns and communities.”
He further added, “No one is suggesting these buildings are pickled in aspic – it’s a pro-growth approach. Restored and transformed buildings have turbocharged regeneration all over the country, everywhere from Tate Modern in London to former department stores in Bournemouth, Bristol, Edinburgh and Gloucester.”
Simon Sturgis, the founder of Targeting Zero, a government adviser on sustainability, said the housing secretary Angela Rayner’s decision to approve M&S’s project to demolish and rebuild its Marble Arch store on London’s Oxford Street continued uncertainty over prioritising retrofits. “As we approach net zero in 2050 it is inevitable that retrofit will become increasingly crucial in helping achieve government carbon and waste reduction targets,” he stated.
M&S and certain business groups have claimed that substantial reconstruction is required in order to build greener and more modern high streets. M&S plans to replace its Marble Arch shop on Oxford Street in London with a nine story building that will include offices, cafe, gym and retail space.
Orchard House which was built in the late 1920s on the corner of the most well known shopping street in the UK is one of the three structures that make up the property. The store opened in 1930 and in 2021, M&S requested permission from Westminster City Council to demolish it.
Heritage and sustainability specialists have been fighting the plans and last year Michael Gove, the housing secretary at the time rejected the application. Also a high court judge earlier this year declared that the government’s attempts to stop the plans had been marked by a number of poor decisions.
After all this Rayner approved the demolition and reconstruction of the building on Thursday.
