The demolition of a landmark Marks & Spencer store on Oxford Street can go ahead despite environmental concerns, Sadiq Khan has decided.
M&S wants to replace the near 100-year-old Edwardian art deco store beside Selfridges with a 10-storey building, with offices and a gym above a smaller shop and a new pedestrian arcade.
The mayor last week reviewed a decision in March not to intervene in the application after an expert warned the scheme contradicted new City Hall policies requiring the retention and retro-fitting of old buildings to be prioritised.
But Mr Khan was content that the “carbon footprint” of demolition had been considered from an early stage and referred it back to Westminster council for final approval.
A spokeswoman for Mr Khan said: “The mayor can only intervene in council planning decisions where the proposed scheme does not conform with the London Plan.
“After a thorough assessment of this proposal, including the total carbon footprint involved, it was determined that grounds did not exist to allow the mayor to intervene. It will therefore remain with Westminster City Council to determine the application.”
Westminster has already resolved to grant planning permission, subject to agreeing wider community benefits with the developers.
Only an intervention by Communities Secretary Michael Gove can now derail the scheme, which neighbourhood campaigners fear will result in a further loss of Oxford Street’s character.
The mayor’s review had been sparked by a report written for Save Britain’s Heritage by Simon Sturgis, an expert in “embodied carbon” – all the CO2 emitted in constructing a building.
Mr Sturgis argued that, compared with demolition, a comprehensive refurbishment was the better option.
His report had not been considered by the Greater London Authority prior to its initial decision to rubber stamp the scheme.
Mr Sturgis, who had previously helped redraft the London Plan, the mayor’s development blueprint for the capital, said the initial failure to intervene suggested Mr Khan “isn’t serious” about achieving “net zero” carbon emissions by 2030.
Mr Sturgis said on Tuesday: “I never thought that a Labour mayor of London would prove to be less progressive on climate change than a Conservative government - and this decision just after the publication of the IPCC Report making clear the urgency of the climate emergency.”
He added that M&S should withdraw the scheme to “demonstrate their sincerity” to Plan A, the firm’s sustainability masterplan.
GLA officials said it was “prudent” to have the matter reconsidered by Mr Khan last week in light of Mr Sturgis’s report.
But they said in a letter to Westminster council: “The mayor considered the update report on April 4 and concluded that there is nothing raised now which would have affected the decision reached on March 7, ie that the council may determine the case itself.”
An attached report said the developers had considered refurbishment of the store at an early stage.
However, a “heavy refurb” including retaining the facade was “not considered feasible as the embodied carbon saving would have been immaterial” and it would have been less energy efficient that a new store.
A “lighter touch” refurbishment was also considered as an alternative to demolition and was found to provide the maximum benefit in terms of “embodied carbon”.
However, over the 60-year envisaged lifespan of the building, this would also have been less efficient than a new-build due to the need for repeated upgrades, and poor day-to-day energy performance.
The GLA report said: “On balance the buildings can be demolished.”
Westminster council said it expected to grant planning permission “in the very near future”.
It is up to Mr Gove to decide whether he wishes to call in the application. Third parties have six weeks from permission being granted to apply for a judicial review if they can demonstrate the decision has been unlawfully reached.
Save Britain’s Heritage said it was considering whether to ask Mr Gove to call in the application.
Henrietta Billings, director of Save Britain’s Heritage: “These proposals do not comply with national net zero legislation to reduce carbon emissions or the mayor’s own policy to prioritise retrofit.
“If the London mayor is serious about tackling climate change this cycle of trashing and rebuilding from scratch must stop. This decision flies in the face of national and London wide policy, and goes against the advice of the Mayor’s own sustainability advisor.
“The M&S building is a handsome landmark that has characterised Oxford Street for almost 100 years, helping shape one of London’s most famous and historic streets.
“We call on M&S to stick to their ambitious sustainability goals and re-think their plans. The environmental cost of demolition and rebuild of this building just doesn’t stack up when measured against a comprehensive retrofit alternative.”
An M&S spokesman said: “We are continuing to make progress on our plans to invest in the west end of Oxford Street for the long term by establishing a new, vibrant M&S store fit for modern retail, along with best in class sustainable office space.
“We will keep the local community updated as our plans progress.”
