Greater Cambridge Local Plan: First Proposals Consultation 2021 - Shire Hall, Caste Street, Cambridge

I write on behalf of our client, Cambridgeshire County Council, in relation to the above consultation which forms part of the ongoing consultation on the Greater Cambridge Local Plan. As part of the ‘Call for Site’ consultation, on behalf of the County Council we submitted a red line Shire Hall Site Location Plan (reproduced at the end of this letter ATTACHED).

Cambridgeshire County Council as landowner subsequently confirmed their full support this submission. The property comprises five buildings, Shire Hall, The Octagon, Castle Lodge (Register Office), Old Police House and 42 Castle Street, and set within grounds of approximately 2.47 hectares. The site also includes the Castle Mound and Civil War Earthworks, both of which are Scheduled Monuments.

The site has been marketed by Strutt & Parker on behalf of the County Council and it is anticipated that it will come forward for development in the near future. A number of pre-application discussion have been held with the shared planning service already. It is considered that the site could be suitable for a number of alternative uses such as office, hotel, residential, specialist housing, student accommodation, retirement accommodation, potentially incorporating open space, retail, community/visitor facilities, as part of a comprehensive redevelopment.

We note that a larger site has been identified as an Opportunity Area (Figure 21) in the emerging plan under Policy S/OA/CH Shire Hall/Castle Park which states: “With the relocation of Cambridgeshire County Council to new offices at Alconbury, the Shire Hall building and the adjacent castle mound park provide an opportunity for suitable new uses for these important heritage assets. The draft plan will consider planning guidance for this central site.” For ease of reference, Figure 21 has been reproduced below (IN LETTER ATTACHED).

We believe it is important to be clear that the extent of the site being vacated and marketed by the County Council is limited to the southern part of the area shown in Figure 21 above. For clarity it only includes the extent of the land within the redline which was shown on our original submission Site Plan, which is again reproduced below for ease of reference.

The County Council are not aware of any proposals relating to the Castle Park area shown in the northern part of the site, or the northern frontage development to Castle Street. The majority of these buildings are reasonably modern and occupied. As such we consider it is unlikely that they will come forward for redevelopment during the plan period. Accordingly, we would suggest that the opportunity area allocation should be limited to the extent of the land shown on the original site location plan below.