Council selling 'beautiful' former Cambridge library to ease budget

The library building has been owned by Cambridgeshire County Council since the 1970s

A council said it does not have the money to "hold on to beautiful buildings" after a listed property was put back on the market.

Cambridgeshire County Council is selling the former Mill Road Library building in Cambridge's city centre.

The Grade II site has a £700,000 guide price and could be bought for commercial or community use.

The council said it was necessary to sell, as keeping the building "would not be the best use of taxpayer money".

Ros Hathorn, the chair of the assets and procurement committee, said the council had to look at every building, its purpose, what it delivered for residents, and how many other buildings were more fit for purpose.

Ros Hathorn said Cambridgeshire County Council had to look at where funds could be best spent

"This just doesn't fit in, the cost of making it fit for purpose would blow the budget," the Liberal Democrat councillor said.

"We have to be careful, we don't have the spare money in the county council to hold on to beautiful buildings.

"It is £45 for a pothole, £500 for an in-house foster care placement, £1,000 for someone in dementia home, £54,000 for a social worker, so we have to look at the costs and where they can be best spent.

"Sad as it is to say goodbye to something beautiful, holding on to this would not be the best use of taxpayer money."

The late-Victorian building dates from 1892 and stopped being used as a library in 1996.

A buyer pulled out of a deal to buy the 19th-century building last year

It has been owned by Cambridgeshire County Council since the 1970s and was initially leased to community groups after it stopped operating as a library.

Nearly £500,000 was invested in 2021 to carry out repairs. It was then let temporarily until February 2023.

Jane Webster, principal urban surveyor at the council, said: "It is a stunning building... we want to see the building used."

Jane Webster said that architects received a commendation at the first Greater Cambridge Design and Construction awards for their work on the building's refurbishment

The site was sold to be used as a charity headquarters in 2023 but the buyer pulled out of the deal.

New offers will be considered during the council's assets and procurement committee meeting in June.

Councillors will review bids and whether offers deliver environmental and social benefits.