It’s the saga that seems like it’s never going to be resolved: the Marble Arch M&S flagship. M&S bosses, the government and architecture conservationists have been bickering for years over plans to demolish the art deco M&S store at 458 Oxford Street. Has a conclusion finally been reached?
We’re not going to go into full history right now, you can read our explainer here. But we do have an update: M&S has just been given approval by communities secretary Angela Rayner to redevelop the store, which would include demolishing the three buildings it currently occupies and replace it all with a 10-storey mixed-use development, including a new flagship store and office space.
M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said: ‘I am delighted that, after three unnecessary years of delays, obfuscation and political posturing at its worst, under the previous government, our plans for Marble Arch – the only retail-led regeneration proposal on Oxford Street – have finally been approved.
‘We can now get on with the job of helping to rejuvenate the UK’s premier shopping street through a flagship M&S store and office space, which will support 2,000 jobs and act as a global standard-bearer for sustainability. We share the Government’s ambition to breathe the life back into our cities and towns and are pleased to see they are serious about getting Britain building and growing. We will now move as fast as we can.’
Not surprisingly, people still aren’t happy. Conservation charity SAVE Britain’s Heritage is now calling for ‘urgent reform’ of the national planning policy, demanding for policy to be changed to prioritise re-purposing historic buildings.
In the past, refurbishment of the old art deco store was deemed unviable, with M&S saying it would have to cease trading there if that happened.
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