Cambridge Civic Quarter launches

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

Will we get a splendid new civic quarter or will we end up with Brookgate-style blandness?

See https://cambridgecivicquarter.co.uk/ for the details

My own vision is a little different – have a look here.

Above – inspiration from Graz City Hall in Austria (which I visited back in the mid-2000s) that provide for a nice template of what a revamped guildhall front could be like – simply built in front of the existing frontage.

“Anyone who is interested in finding out more about the project is invited to attend the Cambridge Civic Quarter Liaison Group meeting on Wednesday 15 May, at 4pm to 5pm, in person at the Guildhall. You can also sign up via the project website to receive project updates by email.”

Above – Press Release from Cambridge City Council 13 May 2024

Would have been nice to have had a little more notice, but hey.

““The Cartwright Pickard-led team have made a fantastic start already. They have committed to a full programme of engagement with local people – those who currently use the Market and council buildings and those who don’t often visit this part of town – and key stakeholders including market traders and other local businesses. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and it’s vital to us that the plans for the new quarter can be drawn up based on what we hear from local people.”

Above – Cllr Simon Smith (Labour – Castle)

More like once in at least half a century – the last one resulted in the creation of a permanent market in Market Square (the work of Mayor Mrs Jean Barker – Baroness Trumpington). It got rid of the car parking in Market Square, and was part of a wider pedestrianisation of central Cambridge that also god rid of the bus stops in Market Square and King’s Parade ((!!!!))

Town Planning Documents – the complicated stuff

These were raised in the meeting of the Transport and Planning Scrutiny Committee in 2019, and you can read them here (the appendices 1 & 2)

Above – Appendix 1, p26

All is well-and-good with the above, but I can’t see radical change happening without some huge overhaul in how Cambridge is governed (including massively empowering local government to tax the wealth made her to invest in civic improvements), and a light rail/underground – one that can also incorporate some sort of freight function for city centre outlets.

Above – Appendix 1, p27

Creating a new/extended heritage tourist trail was something I looked at some time ago too.

“At the time I suggested building some new castle-themed buildings on some of the spare land, renting it out as office space, having a rooftop tower cafe with splendid views and an expensive menu to match (to subsidise the Museum), and having a second ‘city centre’ light rail underground stop and designate that as the start of the ‘tourist trail’ so people can walk down the hill from there, past/popping into the Museum of Cambridge en route to The Backs or King’s Parade. “

Above – following the news Brookgate had pulled out of negotiations for Shire Hall

Above – my proposal for a walking trail starting at the top of Castle Hill with a revamped Shire Hall functioning as an expanded Museum of Cambridge. It assumes a light rail stop at Castle Hill where the tourists disembark and walk *down the hill* from there.

I wrote about the above in an article on the proposed ‘Tourist Tax for Cambridge’ here. I went far, far beyond the proposals for a Cambridge-BID-backed hotel room levy to suggest building Cambridge Connect Light Rail and banning tourist coaches from the city limits – instead building a couple of out-of-town park and ride/transport interchange and freight exchange for last mile deliveries. As part of the facility there should be ‘coach driver heaven’ where they get free or discounted use of facilities dependent on the number of passengers that buy all-day transport tickets, which also function as a means for taxing day-trippers too.

“Do we need extra heritage display space?”

Yes – the county archaeologists told us we did. This was the result of so many large building schemes that have enabled archaeologists to do lots of digging, the results of which have been incredible and have changed our understanding of our ancient history and pre-historical (i.e. before the written word) eras. We’re not just an iron age fort at Wandlebury!

At the same time, the Cambridgeshire Collection only displays about 3% of its total collection. You’ll find other museums and galleries have huge collections not on display. The creation of additional tourist, research, and display spaces could have a significant positive impact on our city – if the politicians (local and national) choose to seize the moment. With that in mind, the general election campaign over the next six months could prove crucial. Who wants to raise these issues with the candidates?

“Who is standing in the general election?”

Phil Rodgers’ Spreadsheet says this lot (further along the sheet are the other candidates)

I think Labour are due to announce more candidates in the near future, so keep an eye on their social media pages!

And if we get that new large concert hall

The one that I’ve been going on about for years….

…we could have an additional tourist trail.

Above – again it assumes a light rail stop at Castle Hill, where the tourists disembark and walk *down the hill*

Under our current governance structure I can’t see any of these proposals coming to fruition. Which is why I hope we have a debate that Parliament has called for about how we are governed. That way we can imagine something far greater than the sum of our civic parts – and have a reasonable chance of achieving it.

Food for thought?