URGENT – REVISED BUT STILL UNRESOLVED CAMBRIDGE MARKET SQUARE PROPOSALS TO COMMITTEE 2nd September

We are very sorry for our long, long silence, mostly due to ‘life things’..    

Last year, the Council put in two planning applications (one of them was a listed building application) for its proposed changes to the Market Square.   

Along the way – we give our huge, huge thanks to the people who spun on a sixpence, and came out to join us in demonstrating in the Market Square.  To keep our traditional market.     

On 25th March 2026, the planning committee councillors voted to defer those two applications.  The reasons the councillors gave for their deferment were more comprehensive than those later publicised by the council.   The road safety issues raised by highways were certainly in there..  The reasons the councillors also gave were mainly around the concerns of the traders, as well as the complete lack of information regarding the proposed demountable stalls and the decant of the traders..  There were also concerns regarding the loss of cycle spaces, and issues with the setts.

The City Council have now come back with amendments to the original applications.  And the officers are recommending approval even though 3 of these reasons for deferral (Highway safety objections, lack of support from traders, lack of detail regarding demountable stalls) are still unresolved. 

The Committee report is at https://democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=181&MId=4856

Further update with more detail tomorrow