Construction to start on Cherry Hinton community hub after funding agreed by Cambridge City Council

Work to extend Cherry Hinton Library to provide much-needed community facilities can start next month after funding was approved by Cambridge City Council.

The scheme will provide a fully refurbished library alongside a new café, three meeting rooms and a garden and has been designed in consultation with local residents.

The council has been working with the Cherry Hinton Community Benefit Society to develop plans after its 2019 community centre strategy identified a gap in access to community facilities for residents.

Planning approval was granted in 2020 and, with funding now in place, work will start as soon as possible to demolish existing extensions and start construction of the new, fully accessible community hub.

The council will be contacting the small number of residents who live above the library to keep them fully informed about the planned works during the 57-week programme.

Cambridgeshire County Council, which runs the Cambridgeshire Library Service, will be closing the library from Saturday, April 29 to allow work to commence on site in May.

From June and throughout the period of the closure, the library service will be offering a Saturday morning mobile library visit, close to the library site. It is also launching enhanced Open Plus library provision at the nearby Rock Road library.

Jane Wilson, director of neighbourhoods and communities at the city council, said: “Delivering a new community facility for Cherry Hinton is a priority for the council, as it’s important that residents in all parts of our city have easy access to community space and we know that the Cherry Hinton community has been without suitable facilities for some time now.

“I’m really looking forward to work now beginning on site at pace, with the intention of opening the new community hub in May 2024.”

Mo Child, chair of Cherry Hinton Community Benefit Society, set up by the residents association to manage the hub, said: “We are delighted that work will be starting on the hub soon and thank everyone who has worked so hard to meet the deadlines. The benefit society looks forward to continuing to work with both the city and county council to bring this much needed community facility to Cherry Hinton. We will also be concentrating on raising the rest of the £50,000 for the café, which will provide a meeting place for the Cherry Hinton community.”

Gary Porter, the county council’s head of libraries, archives and culture, said: “This is great news for the residents of Cherry Hinton and we are delighted that the city council is developing this vital community facility. This does mean that the library will be closed for a while, but we will be providing a mobile service close to the library on Saturdays, in addition to enhanced facilities at nearby Rock Road library until the work is completed.”

Cambridge-based property and construction consultancy Ingleton Wood has been appointed to provide multi-disciplinary services for the project, including architecture, mechanical and electrical, and civil and structural engineering.