Planning inspector hears Hobson Street Cinema appeal

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

The saga of one of Cambridge’s finest town buildings owned by St Catherine’s College fellow Mark Richer was heard before a planning inspector following his appeal against refusal of planning permission by Cambridge City Council

You can read the article in the Cambridge News on the appeal hearing here

One of the things that reflects the town/gown divide for me is where prominent college and university figures do not go out of their way to preserve and make accessible/useable city civic assets that they own. In this case the Hobson Street Cinema building should in my opinion have been made available as ‘meanwhile space’ until the owner decided what to do with it. Would the university and any of its colleges allow such a prominent city centre building be treated like this knowing that a number of its members were campaigning for it to be brought back into use? Perhaps that’s for another day.

I last wrote about this in December 2024

…having spent the best part of a decade trying to persuade the owner through his agents (I was never able to find out who owned it until the current application was submitted) and the city council to get the building back into use, highlighting concerns that the owner had not properly secured the building to protect it from decay.

“The inspector highlighted that comments had been made by members of the public that the old cinema building had been “allowed to fall into a state of disrepair”.”

Above – Cambridge News 12 Sept 2025

“Officers from the city council said it was “quite clear that there are visual defects in the facade” and that there were cracks where water had got into the building. They said a lot of the work mentioned by the appellant was mainly “cleaning and generic sort of upkeep of any building”.

“Officers added that it was “quite difficult to accept the building has been maintained to the best of the ability”.”

That’s an understatement!

Anyway, I hope that the front of the building can be saved and renovated in the longer term. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Inspector overturned the refusal because local history tells me that all too often planning inspectors side with developers. Decisions that continue to undermine the public’s faith in democratic institutions and processes. There has to be a better way.

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to: