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Marks and Spencer has won a legal challenge in the High Court against Michael Gove’s decision to stop the retailer from knocking down its Art Deco flagship store on London’s Oxford Street.
In a ruling on Friday, the court said the decision by the UK secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities was unlawful.
“In my view, it is plain that the SoS misinterpreted the NPPF [the National Planning Policy Framework], and therefore erred in law,” Mrs Justice Lieven said in her ruling. “The SoS has not applied the policy, he has rewritten it.”
Gove intervened and rejected M&S’s multimillion plans to rebuild the store in central London in July, two years after planning was approved by Westminster City Council.
The government must now revisit its decision before it determines whether the retailer can redevelop the site to make way for a new store, restaurants, offices and a gym.
Gove claimed the project could harm nearby protected landmarks and would fail to support the UK’s ambitions to transition to a low-carbon future.
“The result has been a long, unnecessary and costly delay to the only retail-led regeneration on Oxford Street, which would deliver one of London’s greenest buildings, create thousands of new jobs and rejuvenate the capital’s premier shopping district,” M&S said in a statement.
In recent years, Oxford Street has suffered a rapid deterioration from the jewel in the crown of UK retail to empty buildings and a boom in souvenir and candy stores.
“The secretary of state now has the power to unlock the wide-ranging benefits of this significant investment and send a clear message to UK and global business that the government supports sustainable growth and the regeneration of our towns and cities,” M&S said on Friday.
The government’s decision to block the plans, previously criticised by M&S boss Stuart Machin as “utterly pathetic”, prompted the retailer to warn that it might quit Oxford Street entirely if its redevelopment plans were thwarted.
The outcome was of “fundamental importance” to Oxford Street, the West End and London as a whole, M&S had argued, as it could discourage other retailers from taking on similar projects and investing in the area.
“We acknowledge the judgment and are considering our next steps,” the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said in a statement. “It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
James Souter, a partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, called Friday’s judgment an “embarrassment” for the government, “not least because of the public perception on the costs incurred”.
“However, this does not automatically mean that planning permission will be granted,” he added. “Gove could in theory still refuse planning permission.”
