22 CONTEXT 184 : JUNE 2025 houses – which constitute the Welsh Streets in Toxteth, Liverpool – being bulldozed saw SAVE and community campaigners square up to a true Goliath: the highly controversial 2002 Pathfinder policy which left 400,000 terraced houses in northern England at risk of being flattened. In 2011, on a mission to prove that the Welsh Streets’ houses made comfortable homes, SAVE bought, refurbished and let out 21 Madryn Street, the former home of Ringo Starr’s aunt. Even after the withdrawal of the national Pathfinder programme, Liverpool City Council pressed ahead with demolition plans for the 10 streets. SAVE fought these proposals at public inquiry and ultimately won, saving these homes from the wrecking ball. The houses were restored as family homes by rental property developer Placefirst, with Historic England noting that the development ‘is attracting former residents to return and has been recognised as one of the “coolest” areas to live in the city’.² It is estimated that across England up to 670,000 new homes could be created through the repair and reuse of historic buildings. The Welsh Streets show how retention like this can create homes while strengthening local identity.³ SAVE brings heritage into the mainstream, recently leading new discussions regarding the environmental impact of knock-it-downand-rebuild schemes. In 2022, SAVE commissioned a report on the carbon cost of Marks and Spencer’s plans to demolish and rebuild its flagship Marble Arch store from sustainability and carbon emissions expert Simon Sturgis. The report’s findings – that comprehensive retrofit would produce substantially less embodied carbon emissions than demolition and building from scratch – triggered a hunt for radical new proposals for the building’s reuse. SAVE and the Architect’s Journal cohosted the Re:Store charette to generate ideas, asking entrants to prioritise whole-life carbon design principles while conserving the original 1929 building. SAVE’s campaign for Marks and Spencer was the first time that heritage arguments and those regarding the embodied carbon cost of demolition were jointly presented at public inquiry. This campaign attracted national media attention, generating interest well beyond the heritage sector and promoting the reuse of historic buildings as a core consideration in sustainable design. The future of SAVE Fifty years on, SAVE’s work is more relevant than ever. As local authority heritage budgets plummet, the planning system becomes more hostile and grants become ever scarcer, SAVE presents an alternative vision of what heritage-led growth could look like working with community groups to raise awareness about vulnerable buildings. This means continuing to stand up against wasteful wrecking-ball schemes and encouraging sympathetic revival. At the time of writing (April 2025), SAVE has teamed up with other heritage bodies to re-form the Liverpool Street Station Campaign, defending the station from proposals which would overshadow it with an over-scaled office development and demolish its listed concourse. SAVE is also fighting proposals for the construction of a 17-storey office-led proposal in the Whitechapel High Street conservation area, challenging the government’s decision not to list an 18th-century mill in Manchester, and running a petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to help prevent the unnecessary use of emergency public safety powers to demolish listed buildings. As part of 50th anniversary celebrations, SAVE’s buildings at risk register – an ever-growing resource which highlights over 1,400 historic buildings whose future is uncertain – has been made free to access. SAVE is also hosting a programme of events across the UK to engage and equip communities to bring new life to their remarkable buildings. The reuse of historic buildings has the potential to improve the outlook for two of the most significant crises facing the UK today: housing and climate. Much of SAVE’s work leads by example, showing property owners, developers and local authorities that retention and reuse is possible. Still a small organisation, SAVE continues to fight for the historic buildings that stand at the heart of our communities. Eve Blain is casework intern at SAVE Britain’s Heritage. The Welsh Streets restored (Photo: Phil Nash, Wikimedia) References 1 Historic England (2021) ‘Driving Northern growth through repurposing historic mills’. ² Historic England (2021) ‘Design Case Study: Welsh streets Liverpool 8’. ³ Historic England (2025) New Homes from Vacant Historic Buildings.
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