£92m city project will not mean cuts, council says

Ninety-six new market stalls will be created in the Market Square

A council says its services will not be cut back to help pay for its £92m city centre regeneration project.

Officers at Labour-run Cambridge City Council said current modelling showed the Civic Quarter project would not affect its savings targets.

The project aims to redevelop the Guildhall, the Corn Exchange, and Market Square to "conserve and modernise" some of the spaces.

However, one councillor said it was "very difficult to predict" what savings might have to be made in five years due to uncertainties with local governments reorganisation.

Cambridgeshire has a two-tier system of county and district councils, but under the proposed reorganisation, these could be replaced by two new unitary councils.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Labour councillor Mike Davey said it was difficult to predict what savings would be needed.

"[The city council] won't exist in five years time," he said.

"For example, if we go to local government reorganisation with south Cambridgeshire, and if they agree [the Guildhall] should be the centre, and if they think about selling Cambourne, then if that all happens there is an awful lot of extra capital that would then be available to whatever the new council is."

Green Party councillor Hugh Clough questioned whether the city council should make a decision on the project before "serious conversations" took place with South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Liberal Democrat Katie Porrer said local government reorganisation did make it "difficult", but said they had to be "careful".

She said the council "cannot stop everything on the assumption something might happen in the future".

Costs for the project include £52.2m for the Guildhall, £26.5m for the Corn Exchange work, and £13.6m for the Market Square work

The plans for the Civic Quarter would see 96 stalls on the Market Square, with 44 permanent and 52 demountable.

The Grade II listed Guildhall would be designed to be carbon neutral and fully accessible with a cafe, meeting rooms and work spaces.

The Corn Exchange would also be upgraded with energy-saving measures and enhanced sound and audio-visual systems.

Funding from the project could come from a mix of sources including reserves, external borrowing and grants.