Cambridge University Botanic Garden wins approval for improved new ticket office and shop

A new ticket office building for Cambridge University Botanic Garden is expected to open by summer 2025 after it was given planning permission.

The city council approved plans for the structure at the eastern entrance to the garden, off Station Road.

It will replace the existing basic ticket office, which the university says is not adequate for welcoming the 350,000-plus visitors to the garden.

As well as providing a better space for buying tickets, the new office will offer information on the garden’s attractions and events and provide space to talk with welcome staff.

Prof Sam Brockington, acting director of the Botanic Garden, said: “We want visits to the garden to be as easy and pleasurable as possible. New and enhanced facilities at the ticket office will also include a shop, toilets, changing rooms, storage and a buggy store.

“The new ticketing area will also increase the space and number of visitor service points – reducing queues at busy times and allowing visitors to enter and enjoy the beauty of the garden as quickly as possible.

"We are very happy to have this permission. It represents a commitment to enhancing the overall visitor experience at Cambridge University Botanic Garden."

The university said the new ticket office will improve the street scene and provide a better first impression of the garden and, by extension, the University of Cambridge. For many arriving by train, the site is one of the first they see in Cambridge.

The number of visitors using the Station Road entrance has increased over the years but the only shop in the garden is currently at the opposite end, off Trumpington Road.

The garden expects the shop to be useful for local office staff and passers-by too.

The new plans will also allow more toilet facilities. The closest toilets to the Station Road entrance are currently those at the garden’s café in the centre of the garden, which are already busy.

The university says the new toilets will be open to the public, accessible and include a changing places toilet for the disabled. There will also be increased storage facilities for wheelchairs and electric mobility scooters.

In 2023, more than 195,000 of the garden’s 360,000 visitors used the Station Road entrance.

In its planning application the university said: “The existing ticket kiosk is accommodated in a single storey ‘garden shed’ and is inadequate for receiving visitors to the garden and the associated administrative procedures.

“The existing building cannot comfortably accommodate two working occupants and there is a limited field of vision to observe or welcome large visitor numbers, alongside no accommodation for visitors with hearing impediments, nor can wheelchair users communicate with staff due to inadequate window arrangements.”

One Cupressusx notabilis tree - brought into the garden in 1976 and planted in 1977 - will be felled to make room but a Chichester elm tree (Ulmusxhollandica ‘Vegeta’) will be planted south of the ticket office as a replacement, propagated from elms in Chichester which are resistant to Dutch Elm disease.

The existing 15 cycle parking spaces would be replaced with 16 in a new location to the north of the new building.

Work is due to begin at the end of this year, with completion in time for next year’s busy summer season.