Marks & Spencer building on Oxford Street
(Picture: In Pictures via Getty Images)Selfridges is backing plans put forward by its Oxford Street neighbour Marks & Spencer to flatten and redevelop its flagship shop.
A planning inquiry is beginning into the controversial proposals this week which will pit the famous brands against environmental campaigners and conservationists of historic buildings.
The inquiry was called after a number of complaints about the scale of the project, despite it passing through council stages and the Greater London Authority’s departments.
The store has stood for 90 years at 458 Oxford Street and opponents to the plans feel it should be refurbished rather than demolished.
Selfridges, based at 400 Oxford Street, was taken over by the Thai conglomerate Central Group and the Austrian real estate company Signa Holding last month.
A statement from the department store said it “supports and endorses” the redevelopment and that it plays a role in “maintaining Oxford Street as the UK’s national shop window”.
Marks and Spencer is looking to downsize its biggest UK shop due to a rise in online shopping. The new design is for ten floors but just two and a half of those will be retail space with offices and leisure space added on.
Planning inspector David Nicholson, who played a role in turning down the “unsustainable” Tulip Tower proposal, will oversee the inquiry.
Around 5,000 have signed a petition put forward by the SAVE Britain’s Heritage to oppose the redevelopment and say it would release almost 40,000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.
Henrietta Billings, the director of SAVE, said: “In the face of a climate crisis, demolition must be the last, not the first resort.”
Marks & Spencer has argued its shop, at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street, has an archaic design and its low ceilings are not suited to a modern shopping experience. It said that if the plans were rejected it could accelerate a move away from the area. It added that 95 per cent of the materials used will be recovered.
