SAVE in the news - July 2023

What a month! SAVE’s landmark win in the M&S case was splashed across all the papers and news bulletins, with our director Henrietta Billings widely quoted.

In the days since the Secretary of State’s decision, countless commentaries have appeared in the national papers as well as trade magazines analysing the implications for their readers, from The Grocer (‘Has Stuart Machin lost his marbles over Gove’s M&S store plan kibosh?’) to Property Week (‘M&S lesson: don’t diss retrofit’) and Building, which hailed ‘a landmark ruling which will send shockwaves through the built environment sector’. Building Design architecture editor Ben Flatman dubbed it ‘a triumphant moment for SAVE Britain’s Heritage’, while Bloomberg called it ‘a major win’.

The FT said the decision was ‘likely to be seen as a precedent for developers and planners in how to approach the question of whether to demolish or refit buildings. Gove accepted the argument of conservation group SAVE Britain’s Heritage that M&S did not fully explore alternatives to demolition, or demonstrate that a refurbishment would “not be deliverable or viable”.’

Henrietta and our carbon expert Simon Sturgis were also invited to write pieces.