Campaigners in Cambridge’s Mill Road ‘will not forget loss of library from community hands’ if bid fails

Campaigners trying to save Mill Road library for community use and turn it into an arts centre and cinema say residents “will not forget how their wishes weren’t supported” after council officers recommended selling the building to an unknown buyer.

The community bid for the site looks set to be rejected at a Cambridgeshire County Council committee meeting on 15 October, when the preferred bidder for the grade II-listed building will be chosen.

More than 1,300 people have signed a petition asking the council to save the library for the local community.

The campaigners have raised more than £450,000 in pledges from local people who want to see the library turned into an arts centre and cinema. And they have the promise of up to a £1million loan from the Architectural Heritage Fund.

But meeting papers reveal councillors are recommended to choose an unknown bidder who has offered above the asking price for the building.

The community bid team, now known as Mill Road Library CIC, expressed disappointment that a buyer has been recommended who does not appear to have carried out community engagement.

Matthew Webb, coordinator of the campaign for the community arts centre and cinema, said: “The people of Mill Road will not forget this and how they weren’t supported again. It was an opportunity to do something really good with people. And there's still an active petition to save the building for the community.

“I think you can only really claim to be involved in the community if you've worked with the community and you've asked them what they would like to see in the building, or what they would like to do in the building, or at least spoken to them, or said hello. It’s really difficult to claim any sort of community nature if you haven't spoken to them.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised by the recommendation. I think throughout there's been minimal engagement from the council with what people actually want to see there, which is the most disappointing thing.

“We have had huge support from local people with more than £450,000 in pledges towards buying the site and more than 1,900 people signing a petition to keep the library building in community hands.

“Our bid was completely deliverable with both the right money and expertise, so I don’t understand the low marks we got for deliverability. We have internationally renowned heritage experts behind us. We have architects who have won all sorts of awards for their heritage work in the UK, working with buildings exactly like this. We have people who have launched some of the largest cultural organisations in the UK. And we also have the support of the Architectural Heritage Fund, who've written a letter to the council to back our bid.

“If there were any questions about deliverability, why didn’t they ask? Why didn’t they look for assurance? Why did they not reply when I forwarded them the letter from the Architectural Heritage Fund? I have heard nothing from them after submitting the bid.

“People we have engaged with have talked about the building being a prominent part of their lives when they were growing up, and they want to be able to go in there, not necessarily as a rental space, but as a place to be.

“That’s what’s really missing on Mill Road – a cultural centre where everyone can go that doesn’t require you to append £500 for a studio session or £1,000 for an event. Lots of people have said it's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy something like this. It has languished in such a state for so long. It will be sad when it becomes simply a building to hire.”

The county council has put the former library up for sale with a guide price of £700,000 and has invited bids from community organisations as well as developers.

In meeting papers due to be discussed at the assets and procurement committee, officers compared seven bids made on the building.

Matthew believes the community bid the second choice bidder.

The recommended preferred bidder was the “highest financial offer and is considerably more than the £700,000 guide price”, according to the report, “with evidence of readily available funding, and was considered the most deliverable as it is an unconditional bid.” It adds that the bidder “is strongly motivated to preserve the architectural features of the building and has sufficient resources to do so”.

The property would be rented out after it was bought and the report says: “The proposal is to let to community users in the creative arts.”

All bids have been anonymised and the recommended preferred bidder has not been named.

The officer’s report adds that bidder one “has current experience of successfully delivering community-focused enterprises in more than one London location and offers to complete the sale quickly and has the intention to use the facility for community purposes, including letting studio space for the creative arts, dance, music, art and writing, albeit bidder one’s plans are also capable of being fluid and dynamic to react to the demands of the Cambridge community, engaging with local projects creating opportunities and events. He has a long-standing connection with Cambridge.”

John Preston, who set up the petition with his wife Kati, to save the library for the community, which has gained more than 1,300 signatures, said: “County officers are once again treating the proposed sale of the former library, and any public involvement in it, purely in terms of a commercial transaction.

“This for a building that was built to serve the community, and which the arts bid is attempting to restore to community use – the eventual aim is to set up a charity.

“County officers are completely disregarding the community’s interest in the former library, the only listed building on Mill Road, and a designated Asset of Community Value. “

The petition will not be be heard at the committee meeting as under its rules “the council will not consider petitions from, or submitted on behalf of a business, or person, where the main purpose of the petition is to influence a forthcoming commercial decision of the council, or the terms and conditions of a commercial transaction”.

“We are in a state of shock after I was denied permission first to present the petition, and then to put a public question,” said John.

Visit shorturl.at/4nuJX to view the petition.