What’s in store for the West End ward in 2025

The West End ward in the City of Westminster is set for another busy year of change in 2025 after a number of redevelopment projects were given approval. But details of the Mayor of London’s plans for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street may not be revealed for another 12 months.

Marks & Spencer will be allowed to press ahead with demolishing its flagship store on Oxford Street after being given a controversial green light to do so. Meanwhile, residents in Soho will see a smaller supermarket built on Dean Street after plans to demolish the current Tesco to build a bazaar and office block were approved earlier this year.

And Transport for London will have new powers to regulate e-bikes and pedicabs.

Oxford Street

In September, the Mayor of London revealed he wants to pedestrianise Oxford Street as part of a £150mn project to revitalise the historic street. The news caused shockwaves in Westminster Council, which had set aside £90mn for its own regeneration project, which it recently admitted was no longer going ahead despite having already spent £20mn.

Sadiq Khan’s proposal also got the backing of the Government, which confirmed its support in its recently-released report on the future of devolution in England. Specifically, they backed the Mayor’s plan to designate the world-famous shopping destination as a Mayoral Development Area (MDA), grabbing planning powers normally reserved for Westminster Council.

Beyond banning motor traffic and cycling from the street, it is not clear what precisely the plans would entail, especially how and where buses and taxis serving the street will be re-routed. The road between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch — 0.7 miles — is due to be pedestrianised first and more changes towards Tottenham Court Road could be brought in later.

Westminster Council had proposed keeping Oxford Street open to traffic but with timed restrictions and had plans to widen footpaths and install extra seating and trees to improve the shopping strip.

Mortimer Street and Wigmore Street are due to be changed to two-way working in March. Residents groups in Fitzrovia and Marylebone fear that Oxford Street traffic will be re-routed along these roads under the Oxford Street pedestrianisation plans.

Adverts were placed by TfL in December to recruit a project team for the redevelopment of Oxford Street but little else has been forthcoming. Oxford Street is mentioned just twice in TfL’s budget for 2025-2026, saying the Greater London Authority will “develop proposals for the regeneration of Oxford Street, with consultation anticipated in early 2026”.

Demolition of Marks & Spencer store

Marks & Spencer will be allowed to demolish and rebuild its Oxford Street store after being given the green light by housing deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in December. The plans include replacing a “congested” side road with a new pedestrianised area, removing “unsightly and light-limiting” street level canopies and introducing “new tree-lined public spaces”.

The new building will use less than a quarter of the energy of the current structure. M&S also said that the existing building materials will be recovered, recycled or reused.

M&S’ application was blocked by Rayner’s predecessor, Michael Gove, in July last year after the Tories claimed it would “fail to support the transition to a low carbon future, and would overall fail to encourage the reuse of existing resources, including the conversion of existing buildings”. Following Labour’s landslide election success in July this year, the decision was handed to Rayner.

New office block and ‘low cost’ supermarket in Soho

A Tesco supermarket in Soho will be demolished and replaced with an office block and supermarket almost half the size under plans approved by Westminster Council. Councillors said developers HECF Soho Limited had made “dramatic improvements” to the Dean Street and Soho Square scheme after refusing a similar design in 2023 and voted unanimously to approve it during a planning meeting in May.

Changes include carving out dedicated space for a supermarket to operate on ground level, lowering the height of the six-storey office block and keeping some of the original colour scheme. Councillors also heard how Sainsbury’s and Tesco had already expressed an interest in the new space.

The Tesco store was formally recognised as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) by Westminster City Council following a nomination from the Soho Society in December 2023.

Transport for London gets new powers

Transport for London (TfL) has been given new powers to regulate e-bikes and pedicabs. The Pedicabs (London) Act given royal assent in April gives TfL the power to licence pedicabs in London, which remains the only area in the country not to have laws in place for their regulation.

The transport body defended a delay in rolling out new regulations saying it is currently carrying out an impact assessment and plans to open its proposals to regulate rickshaws in the capital to the public for consultation in early 2025.

TfL will also soon be able to regulate e-bikes and e-scooters. In its recently released White Paper on the future of devolution in England, the Government said regional transport authorities, like TfL, will be given powers to regulate on-street micromobility schemes, like hired bikes, to allow local areas to shape these schemes around their needs.

A TfL spokesperson said: “Rental e-bikes and e-scooters are an important part of the capital’s transport network and we want to make sure they work for everyone. We are pleased that the Government has set out its intention to issue transport authorities with new powers to be able to regulate and manage these services to ensure that e-bikes can continue to operate without impacting the ability of others to use and access the capital’s streets.

“We will continue to work with operators, boroughs and other partners to ensure all Londoners have access to a safe and sustainable transport network.”

Additional reporting by Linus Rees.

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