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In this bonus edition we discuss the implications of local government secretary Michael Gove’s highly controversial decision to turn down plans by retailer Marks & Spencer to demolish its 1930s Oxford Street building in London’s West End and replace it with a new building. We ask:

• How did the secretary of state come to be making the decision on the scheme and why did he disagree with the inspector’s recommendation to approve it?
• M&S has issued a furious response. Is it likely to challenge the decision in the courts?
• What is the significance of the decision in terms of the bearing that heritage considerations can have on planning decisions?
• What does it say about the need for decision-makers to consider the embodied carbon of existing buildings when applicants seek to demolish them? And what are the implications of this for local plan policies and the National Planning Policy Framework?

PLUS, we round up the other most important news stories of the past fortnight.

Room 106 is the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24.

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