Make us the new Mill Road' say Cambridge campaigners as Tivoli plans get scrapped

Plans to build luxury apartments on the site of a former Wetherspoon pub have been turned down by the city council.

The decision has given nearby residents hope that the former Tivoli pub, on Mitcham’s Corner, might become a new destination for food, drink and entertainment for the community.

Some would like the redevelopment of the Tivoli building to lead the way for a revamp of the immediate area, helping to attract more desirable venues and emulate the success of Mill Road.

Liberal Democrat campaigner Jamie Dalzell said the Tivoli “remains a fantastic opportunity for developing the north of the city”.

He told the Cambridge Independent: “If the plans were for housing that’s affordable I think people would have been more sympathetic to the proposals. What we were instead looking at was very expensive luxury apartments which were not going to help people entering the property market.”

He said a new venue is what people really want.

“There’s talk of trying to get the building back as a pub, which as a Camra member I’d love to see, but there are already six other pubs in the area,” he continued.

“What I think residents really want to see is the likes of Stir and Thirsty (both on Chesterton Road), and we’d love to see something like a Hot Numbers here, a place with live music and art, not just drinkers.

“Speaking to older residents, I think the area used to be more like Mill Road. People say you could walk all the way down Chesterton High Street and end up at Mitcham’s where you would do a big shop.”

The apartments plan would have seen most of the building demolished with the exception of the 1930s facade that was built when the building was opened as a cinema.

The Tivoli was destroyed by fire in 2015 when it was a Wetherspoon pub, causing major structural damage.

Seven one-bed apartments and two nine-bed apartments were proposed, along with a single ground floor commercial unit.

It was determined by the city council that the loss of the pub “would have a detrimental impact on the ability of Mitcham’s Corner to serve the needs of local people and would adversely affect the area’s vitality and vibrancy.”