Recent Publicity
Recent publicity relating to SAVE campaigns, publications, buildings at risk and any other matters can be found below.
SAVE in the news - November 2023
SAVE’s work on Ayr Station Hotel continues to make headlines across Scotland, with some great coverage in the Scotsman, the Herald and the Daily Record. The joint public meeting on Liverpool Street Station hosted by Griff Rhys Jones made it into the Evening Standard, with excellent commentary from Rowan Moore in the Observer.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE backs plan for new City of London heritage zone – and urges boundary expansion to include Aldgate Underground Station
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has today submitted a detailed report supporting plans by the City of London Corporation to designate a new Conservation Area between Creechurch, Leadenhall and Aldgate in the east of The City
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE calls for urgent building survey following fire at Ayr Station Hotel
SAVE Britain's Heritage is shocked and saddened that a major fire took hold of Ayr Station hotel yesterday, the second fire to hit the historic building in just four months. SAVE calls for urgent survey of the building to understand structural condition post fire
SAVE in the news - November 2022
SAVE made headlines in papers from The Times to the Sheffield Star
SAVE in the news - June 2022
It’s been a busy month. The Buildings at Risk launch generated headlines from Northumberland to Cornwall, while SAVE’s director Henrietta Billings was quoted in a major Guardian piece on the M&S call-in, a story that was covered by most major news outlets. Norris Castle, the remains of St Olave’s in Norwich and other casework also generated headlines.
PRESS RELEASE: Medieval church remains under threat at Anglia Square – SAVE backs calls for listing
Local conservation experts have uncovered the possible remains of the medieval parish church of St Olave’s amongst a complex of flint warehouses in Anglia Square, Norwich. SAVE Britain’s Heritage is supporting a listing application in light of the special significance of the site.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE report sheds light on crisis facing Britain’s beautiful department stores + urges imaginative reuse of ‘cathedrals of commerce'
Britain’s department stores are facing an existential crisis thanks to the pandemic and rapidly changing shopping patterns.
This new and up-to-the-minute report from SAVE Britain’s Heritage documents some of the country’s finest examples, the threats they face – and what can be done to rescue and reinvent them for the 21st century.
PRESS RELEASE: Future of palatial Thames landmark in the balance as public inquiry opens
The public inquiry into highly controversial plans to convert and extend London’s Custom House has opened in the City of London. The inquiry is examining a series of issues arising from proposals to convert the 19th century landmark on the banks of the Thames into a 200-room hotel.
PRESS RELEASE: New report blasts bulldoze and rebuild plan for M&S Oxford Street HQ
A new report published today calls on Marks and Spencer (M&S) to re-think its demolition plan for the landmark Oxford Street store and warns Westminster City Council it won’t meet its stated climate change commitments unless it immediately changes course.
PRESS RELEASE: Quintessential rural station saved following legal challenge
Legal action by SAVE Britain’s Heritage has secured a reprieve for one of the smallest and most delightful country stations on the railway network. This is Salhouse, north of Norwich on the line up to the fashionable seaside resorts of Cromer and Sheringham.
PRESS RELEASE: Councillors throw out controversial South Kensington station plans
Despite being tipped for approval, Kensington and Chelsea’s Major Development Planning Committee has unanimously rejected proposals for a large-scale development at the heart of historic South Kensington. The decision spells victory in a near three-year battle led by local residents and SAVE Britain’s Heritage.
PRESS RELEASE: Emphatic refusal of Custom House hotel plans sets stage for public inquiry
The City of London’s Planning Committee has voted unanimously to refuse plans to convert London’s Custom House into a hotel, citing the lack of public access proposed and harm to the building’s heritage significance.
PRESS RELEASE: England’s premier cathedral city under attack from rapacious overdevelopment
The City of Canterbury is recklessly and destructively placing economic development ahead of its biggest draw and asset, its heritage. A new SAVE Britain's Heritage report Canterbury Take Care! assess how Canterbury City Council is in danger of eroding its unique selling point – its beauty and history.
PRESS RELEASE: Secretary of State throws out Thameside tower block plans
Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for local government has refused permission for highly contentious plans for two 20+ storey towers behind the grade II listed former London Fire Brigade (LFB) headquarters at 8 Albert Embankment.
PRESS RELEASE: Norwich tower block plan abandoned as court case collapses
SAVE Britain's Heritage welcomes the decision by Weston Homes and Columbia Threadneedle to withdraw from the High Court action over highly controversial £271 million plans to re-develop Anglia Square in the centre of Norwich.
Richmond House: Parliamentary report recognises major cost savings in SAVE approach
SAVE Britain’s Heritage is pleased to find that our alternative scheme for retaining Richmond House is cited as the “the cheapest of the shortlisted schemes by some way”, in a report published by the Sponsor body charged with reviewing the costs of restoring the Palace of Westminster.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE unveils alternative plans to retain historic Welsh school
More than 5500 local people have petitioned the Welsh Assembly to halt the demolition of a landmark Victorian School. Now SAVE Britain’s Heritage, working with the architect Philip Tilbury, has produced an alternative scheman alternative to retain and redevelop the school.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE welcomes Scottish Government's dismissal of damaging Edinburgh Royal High School hotel plans
SAVE Britain's Heritage has welcomed news that the Scottish Government has thrown out an appeal by hotel developers Urbanist Hotels and Duddingston House Properties for a 150-room luxury hotel complex adjacent to the Category A Listed Royal High School on Calton Hill, Edinburgh.
PRESS RELEASE: Fragile beauty of London village under attack from Big Boots developer
One of London’s best-known villages is the subject of a fierce planning battle between locals and development partnership Native Land and TfL, who are jointly proposing a scheme whose leap in scale will, in one blow, destroy its village character.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE welcomes wide-ranging review of Parliament's R&R Programme
SAVE has welcomed news in a press release from the new Sponsor Body in charge of the parliamentary Restoration & Renewal programme issued on 19th May 2020, which states it will re-examine evidence behind previous plans to temporarily relocate MPs and Peers while the Palace of Westminster is restored.
PRESS RELEASE: Buildings at Risk for sale - Buyers Wanted!
This fascinating collection of buildings from our Buildings at Risk Register are all for sale. If you ever wanted to find the perfect project, now's your chance! Many of these historic buildings already have some approved plans in place as to how they could be saved. What is needed now are discerning owners to turn those plans into reality...
PRESS RELEASE: Historic Leeds Mill will be Northern Power House
Urgent action by SAVE Britain’s Heritage has helped rescue one of the major architectural landmarks of the Industrial Revolution: the Egyptian Mill in Leeds, known as Temple Works, which has been selected as the potential new home for a new British Library of the north.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE condemns proposed demolition of Historic Southampton Mills
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has condemned plans by Associated British Ports (ABP) to demolish the historic Solent Flour Mills in Southampton. Despite urgent calls from two Ward Councillors and over 700 people who have signed a petition to halt the demolition.
PRESS RELEASE: Giant Setback To Official Plans For Temporary MPs Chamber
Parliament’s highly controversial plans for a temporary House of Commons Chamber have received a colossal set back as Historic England has determined that the proposed demolition of Richmond House constitutes substantial harm to a grade II* listed building.
SAVE gives evidence against 20-storey Norwich Tower
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has given evidence against the 20-storey tower block proposed for the medieval heart of Norwich during the opening week of a public inquiry examining the future of Anglia Square in the northern city centre.
PRESS RELEASE: Heritage groups lead call to re-think Norwich 'calamitous' tower plans.
Seven national and local heritage organisations, as well as the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, have called on the developers of Anglia Square in central Norwich to reconsider their proposals for the medieval city. This is a prelude to a public inquiry that will open on 28th January in Norwich.
Perseverance is everything
When it comes to the rescue of abandoned country houses, perseverance is everything. Bank Hall appeared in 1981 on the cover of SAVE’s Silent Mansions, written by Sophie Andreae, Catherine Griffiths and Marcus Binney. Now Bank Hall is becoming a shared dwelling space of 10 apartments and 2 larger dwelling spaces. Marucs Binney reports.
Whitechapel Bell Foundry - Secretary of State suspends planning permission for controversial plans
Heritage campaigners have won a temporary reprieve for London's historic Whitechapel Bell Foundry after a temporary halt was issued on controversial plans to turn the grade II* listed foundry site into a 108-room boutique hotel with rooftop swimming pool and artist spaces.
PRESS RELEASE: SAVE Rallies Support for Norwich Public Inquiry
SAVE Britain's Heritage is rallying support for the Norwich public inquiry against a highly controversial 20 storey tower planned in the centre of the medieval city. If built, the tower would have a calamitous effect on the character of this magnificent medieval city: at 60m, it would be the tallest building after the cathedral.
SAVE condemns imminent demolition of historic Cambridge terrace in Conservation Area
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has condemned the imminent demolition of a Victorian terrace on the edge of Cambridge’s historic core as ‘wanton and unnecessary destruction’. Nos 32-38 Station Road, commonly known as Wilton Terrace, lie in a Conservation Area in the historic city, close to the city’s railway station.
Press release: Associated British Ports bulldozes unique historic buildings on Grimsby Docks
Associated British Ports (ABP), the owners of a fine set of Victorian and Edwardian buildings on Grimsby Docks, has begun major demolition today, despite pleas from five national heritage organisations to save and re-use them.
Press release: SAVE condemns demolition of Grimsby's fishing heritage as owners ignore expert pleas to re-think plans
SAVE Britain’s Heritage has condemned plans by owners Associated British Ports to continue with the demolition of historic buildings on Grimsby docks, despite pleas from us, Historic England and other leading national heritage organisations to halt demolition.
Renewed hope for 59 and 61 East Street, Southend, Essex as they are saved from demolition!
A pair of late 19th-century houses in the Prittlewell Conservation Area in Southend, Essex listed on Essex County Council's Buildings at Risk Register have been saved from demolition giving renewed hope for the future of 59 and 61 East Street.
Coverage in the Observer about Liverpool and Pathfinder Campaign
SAVE was featured in an article about Liverpool and the Pathfinder campaign on 23 September 2012 in the Observer newspaper.
Watch SAVE Director, Clem Cecil, on BBC North West in Liverpool, talking about recent High Court ruling on transitional funds
Watch SAVE Director, Clem Cecil, on BBC North West in Liverpool on 20 September talking about the recent High Court ruling (18 September) on Pathfinder transitional funds
Samara: Endangered City on the Volga
PRESS RELEASE: Slash the cost of a temporary MPs Chamber by at least £500m
SAVE Britain's Heritage in collaboration with Mark Hines architects has published proposals showing that the temporary House of Commons Chamber can be constructed within the main courtyard of Richmond House, a Grade II* listed building on Parliament's Northern Estate.
Brighton Churches: The Need for Action Now
New publication: David Meara reviews Brighton Churches in The Times, May 29 2009