Update 24th February 2025

Dear all,

Update 24th February, 2025 

There is so much going on; it is hard to know where to start! So I will start by asking you to save two dates.

15th May 2025 Peter Freeman: “Making Cambridge a Happy City”
The chair of the Cambridge Growth Company has agreed to talk to residents about his plans
6-8.30 (venue to be confirmed) but likely to be central Cambridge

 

FeCRA AGM 19th March, St John’s Church, Hills Road 6.30pm
The committee would love to hear from anyone interested in joining us.
It is not onerous – the FeCRA committee is a conduit for mutual support and sharing of info across the city.

 

Cambridge City Council Budget meeting today 24th Feb, 6.00
Link to on-line broadcast
https://www.youtube.com/@camcitco/streams

Agenda
https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=116&MId=4457&Ver=4

Cambridge Market Petition to be presented at Council meeting
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/more-than-1-700-sign-petition-against-cambridge-market-squar-9403375/

The City Council’s plans to remove two thirds of the permanent market stalls to create a city centre event space face fierce opposition. A petition will be presented at the Budget meeting today.

The City Council’s plans for the Civic Quarter
{the area consisting of the Guildhall, Corn Exchange, Market Square and surrounding public spaces)

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/news/2025/02/06/civic-quarter-update-on-project-to-reimagine-cambridge-market-corn-exchange-and-guildhall#:~:text=In%20a%20later%20phase%20the,and%20temperature%20control%20systems%3B%20and

 

Other development planned for the City Centre
On 21st Feb Cavendish Consultancy hosted a roundtable meeting at Corpus Christi College with people from across the development industry, the bursar of Gonville and Caius College and Mike Davey, Leader of Cambridge City Council. Cavendish reported that ‘to help unpack “the case for Cambridge “in what was an intriguing roundtable discussion, Mike shared his unique insight into the City Council’s relationship with central government and the emerging development corporation. ‘

Twitter/X links below.

https://x.com/CavConsult/status/1892936073208078515

https://x.com/Sam_in_Cam/status/1893308462504825036

https://x.com/CavConsult/status/1892936073208078515

Update:
For some reason Cavendish Consulting have deleted their tweet above about the meeting at Corpus Christi ‘with people across the development industry and the Leader of Cambridge City Council’ but there is record of the meeting here:
https://x.com/greenarteries/status/1894470081473548792

 

Gonville and Caius College’s Agora or “Market Place” Project
Robert Gardiner, the bursar of Caius, a member of Cambridge University’s Planning and Resources Committee, recently led the college’s acquisition of property in Rose Crescent and Market Hill forming the largest expansion of the College’s site in central Cambridge for over a century.

https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/caius-appoints-new-senior-bursar

https://www.governance.cam.ac.uk/committees/PRC/Pages/PRC-membership.aspx

 

Project Agora 
https://micaarchitects.com/projects/project-agora

https://www.futurecitiesforum.london/single-post/mica-appointed-to-masterplan-project-agora-in-cambridge

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/homes-england-and-cambridgeshire-peterborough-combined-authority-launch-new-strategic-place-partnership-to-catalyse-growth

 

The redevelopment of Cambridge Arts Theatre on Peas Hill a few feet from the Market Square 
In addition to the City Council’s plans for the Civic Quarter, the Cambridge Arts Theatre on Peas Hill is also to be transformed, via a £16million donation from Cambridge University Chancellor Lord David Sainsbury’s Gatsby charity

https://www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/creating-future-your-theatre/our-redevelopment-project

 

New Board members of Cambridge Arts Theatre 
https://www.cambridgeartstheatre.com/news/cambridge-arts-theatre-announces-appointment-new-chairs-and-trustees

 

Some connections
Nigel Hugill (Chair) is CEO of Urban & Civic and the chair of the growth think tank Centre for Cities funded by Lord David Sainsbury’s Gatsby charity. Mr Hugill was chair of the Shakespeare Theatre. Board members included Dame Susie Sainsbury. He has recently set up a new company Urban and Civic Coton.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/gw20gA7u7f5AJeoopA1xQLpX9HU/appointments

Nigel Hugill and Tony Juniper the Chair of Natural England and the former Mayor James Palmer launched the “doubling nature“vision for mitigating building million houses for the Oxford Cambridge Arc at U & C’s Waterbeach site. Links below.

https://fecra.org.uk/docs/Natural%20Cambridgeshire-1.pdf

https://www.urbanandcivic.com/media-library/press-releases/waterbeach-barracks-hosts-launch-doubling-nature-initiative/

U&C are represented on the board of Natural England along with Cambridge Airport site developer Marshalls. U & C’s director Rebecca Britton is the vice chair of Natural Cambridgeshire. The developer was cited in N E Cambs MP Steve Barclay’s 2017 complaint to the Auditor General.

https://www.fecra.org.uk/update-may-2017/

Ian Mather, the outgoing chair of the Arts Theatre is the former chair of Cambridge Ahead.

 

Re plans for Cambridge’s City Centre.
https://www.fecra.org.uk/update-10th-october-2022/

Note: decisions about city centre spaces and cultural events delegated to officers and Visit Cambridge. link below.
 https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=5255

Residents interested in the plans for Cambridge’s City Centre and the city’s transport and water scarcity issues, will have a chance to hear from the chair of the Cambridge Growth Company on May 15th.

Let us know your thoughts.

Best wishes,

Wendy

Wendy Blythe

Chair, FeCRA