Marks & Spencer has accused Michael Gove of “political grandstanding” after the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government ordered a public inquiry into its Oxford Street redevelopment plans.
The retailer wants to demolish and rebuild its flagship store, but has come under fire over concerns that a refurbishment would be less environmentally damaging.
M&S said it was “bewildered and disappointed” at “Michael Gove’s baseless decision”, which came after the scheme was granted permission to the displeasure of campaigners, who claimed the project would release 40,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
M&S property director Sacha Berendji said Gove “appears to prefer a proliferation of stores hawking counterfeit goods to a gold-standard retail-led regeneration of the nation’s favourite high street”.
A spokesperson for Gove’s department instantly hit back, accusing M&S of “a disappointing and misleading” statement and insisting it was “right that a project of such significance should be considered by the independent Planning Inspectorate and ministers”.
Either Gove or a junior minister will decide on the future of the project after the planning inspector reports back in a few months’ time.
Westminster City Council, which flipped to Labour at the local elections after the outgoing Tory administration granted M&S permission to demolish the 90-year-old store near Marble Arch, said it was pleased with Gove’s move.
M&S has claimed that in the long term the more energy-efficient new building “will more than offset any emissions from the redevelopment”. It said the building “cannot be modernised through refitting as it is three separate buildings containing asbestos”.
