Cambridge civic voice member and heritage/conservation charity submits response to Cambridge City Council opposing the monstrosity of a proposal at Hills Road / Station Road Corner
“Cambridge PPF monitors and reviews planning policies and planning applications. We respond when we are concerned about their impact on the environment, heritage, landscape and quality of life.”
Above: https://cambridgeppf.org/planning-watchdog/#watchdog
So when a major planning application comes through I often look at their response.
A reminder of the Kett House Karbuncle
I moaned about it in this blogpost and Historical England’s failure to oppose the application.
I also said that the proposal from the architects – Bennetts Associates reflected a contempt for the city of Cambridge.
“What did Cambridge PPF write?”
To summarise:
“Cambridge Past, Present & Future object to this development because it fails to comply with Policy 55. We consider that the proposed scheme is an inappropriate and harmful overdevelopment of the site, primarily due to its excessive massing and scale, which will result in a building that towers over and dominates the adjacent two-storey, locally and Grade II listed street scene. Furthermore, the building’s uninspired, angular form and repetitive architectural character do not respond to the area’s history or draw inspiration from the innovative design of nearby landmark buildings.”
Above – summary from Cambridge PPF
You can see the full detail clicking the link above – it goes into a couple of pages.
At the moment only six of us have responded to the application.
And one of those is in support.
Whatever your views of this application are (See the GCSP Portal here and search Ref: 25/04039/FUL. It’s for “Demolition of the existing building and structures, erection of an office building” on the corner of Station Road and Hills Road”), submit your comments via the portal following the guidance here, or if that’s too complicated simply email your city councillor via https://www.writetothem.com/ and ask them to submit your comment on your behalf. Some of you may also want to contact Humanise and/or the Heatherwick Studio Ltd which is behind the campaign, to discuss the issues further.
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