Issue - meetings

Officer presentation to be followed by discussion by members of the public and committee.

The Committee received a presentation from the Christian Brady the Principal Conservation and Design Officer regarding the Street Scene in the Historic City Centre.

The presentation outlined the difficulties faced in preserving a beautiful and historically significant city whilst maintaining it as a vibrant place that people wanted to be a part of. The conflicting demands of traffic, tourists, modern street furniture, utilities and the need to protect the views of famous landmarks and picture postcard visual aspects were discussed.

The Officer confirmed that the Conservation Area Appraisal had recently been updated. The updated document would be available shortly on the Council’s website.

The Director of Planning and Economic Development, Stephen Kelly, stated that further work was on-going to commission research and consultation work. The project would map out the ways the spaces were currently used and would inform a future strategy. The project would be funded by the Greater Cambridgeshire Partnership. 

The Officers invited the Committee and members of the public to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the City. The following points were raised:

1.   The City was important and deserved Unesco World Heritage Status.

2.   All traffic should be excluded from the central area.

3.   City centre workers need to be able to use public transport for work.

4.   The intimate scale of the centre was valued.

5.   Tourists block important cycle and pedestrian routes into the City and needed to be managed.

6.   Fears were raised about the potential impact of light rail or other future transport options.

7.   The migration of Cambridge University to the fringes of the City with the possibility of the City becoming a sterile environment was a concern.

8.   The opportunity to turn the City into a people centred space as had been achieved elsewhere (New York).

9.   The working title of the project (Spaces and Movement SPD) was agreed to lack impact.

10.               Concerns were raised about getting this project wrong with resulting permanent damage to the City Centre.

The Director of Planning and Economic Development thanked those present for their contributions and assured them that the project would seek a coherent change strategy.