The campaign group SAVE has launched an online petition aimed at halting the demolition of a group of buildings in Charing Cross Road, including the former Foyles bookshop. The petition has so far been signed by nearly 5000 people.
SAVE issued the following press release on 15th June.
SAVE has today written to Greg Clark, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, requesting that he call in proposals to demolish a landmark site in the Soho Conservation Area for a public inquiry.
SAVE has also launched a petition to Greg Clark, to demonstrate the public support for retaining and reusing these buildings. Please sign the petition here and circulate it.
The proposals would see three unlisted buildings of merit, including the former Foyles store, demolished along with several other key buildings.
These are handsome buildings, Victorian, Edwardian, and twentieth century, in brick, stone and stucco with considerable charm. Foyles opened in 1929 at 113-119 Charing Cross Road and was the largest bookshop in the world. Together the buildings make a clear positive contribution to the Conservation Area and surrounding heritage assets, and should be retained, adapted and reused.
In their place a monolithic nine storey office led development is proposed, out of character with the Conservation Area. It is much higher and bulkier than its neighbours – in marked contrast to the fine grain of the surrounding streets and the prevailing domestic scale of the Soho Conservation Area.
Westminster City Council approved the application in May, despite strong objections from Historic England, the Victorian Society, and others. The Greater London Authority also stated that ‘the loss of the original Foyles building causes significant harm to the conservation area’.
Last week the GLA announced they would not intervene in the application, and therefore SAVE has written to the Secretary of State, requesting that he call in the application for public inquiry.
Henrietta Billings, Director of SAVE said: "Soho's much-loved, unique character is full of history and diversity - a story laid out through its historic buildings, streets and open spaces. These 'buildings of merit' in the Conservation Area, deserve protection and celebration, not demolition. The proposed replacement is a monolithic corporate style re-development that risks chipping away at the very fabric that makes this place special."
Mike Fox, Deputy Director of SAVE said: “We saw last year during SAVE’s campaign for the Strand just how passionately people feel about buildings of this kind. Handsome, smartly detailed, and contextual to their surroundings, they are what makes London streetscapes so interesting. We call upon the Secretary of State to intervene and save these buildings.”
Marcus Binney, Executive President of SAVE said: “The proposals have been drawn up as if the Conservation Area, and indeed Conservation Area legislation, did not exist. The existing buildings have character and variety and if refurbished would, like comparable buildings in Soho, Covent Garden and all over central London, add greatly to the street scene. This is a Trojan horse of the worst and most dangerous kind and must be strongly resisted.”
