A BID to give Bath’s 1930s fire station listed status has been rejected, allowing plans for its demolition and replacement with a modern facility to move forward.

The art deco fire station next to Cleveland Bridge was designed by a female architect in the 1930s. Avon Fire and Rescue Service says the bay doors are too narrow for modern fire engines and has proposed replacing the building with a new, purpose-built facility on the site.

The Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to protect “outstanding” architecture from after 1914, had called for the building to be listed instead of demolished.

Historic England agreed, proposing to make it Grade II listed, but has now been overruled by culture minister Baroness Twycross.

In a letter issued in September, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport said: “The minister has noted that the building is not particularly innovative, and has alterations and replacements.”

“While she acknowledges that there is some historical interest particularly in relation to the female architect of the fire station, this is not sufficiently special to meet the high bar for listing.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Twentieth Century Society said: “The decision arrives just days after the similar rejection of Shoreditch Fire Station (1963-64), calling into question why the Minister is opting to reject the recommendations of their appointed experts, Historic England, and the National Amenity Societies.

“C20 Society has written to DCMS requesting a review of both cases. The sole criteria on which listing decisions should be made are architectural and historic interest.”

“Wider questions on social benefit and operations issues should be covered in subsequent listed building consent, and we’re concerned the latter may have unduly influenced the listing decisions in these cases.”

When the campaign appealed for the station to be listed in January, head of casework Coco Whittaker said: “In a city that’s not short of architectural heritage, the Bath Fire Station is a classically beautiful 1930s building with a rich history of its own.”

Alfred J Taylor began designing the fire station in 1937, but after his death in 1938 his daughter Molly Gerrard, the architect behind Kilowatt House, took over the project.

The Twentieth Century Society said that Ms Gerrard was practising at a time when there were very few women architects and that her involvement adds “considerable historic interest” to the fire station.

Under the plan to demolish and rebuild the fire station, some aspects of the historic building will be preserved.

The original fireman’s pole will be reclaimed and incorporated into the final design of the new fire station. The crest on the facade of the current building would also be carefully salvaged and “prominently re-set at the public entrance,” the planning application said.

The planning application is yet to be decided by Bath and North East Somerset Council. You can view and comment on the application here: app.bathnes.gov.uk/webforms/planning/details.html?refval=25%2F02735%2FFUL#details_Section