New library for Christ’s College was approved for the second time by councillors last week
Angela Rayner has swooped on Grafton Architects plans for a new library at Christ’s College in Cambridge with an order to freeze last week’s planning consent.
The housing secretary has issued a last-minute Article 31 holding direction, published this morning, which prevents the council from progressing its approval for the scheme.
The order comes six days before an earlier consent for the same scheme is due to be heard at the High Court following a judicial review launched earlier this year by campaigners.
Rayner’s holding direction has been put in place to allow her to decide whether or not to call in the more recent application, which was approved by Cambridge council’s planning committee last week.
Councillors voted six to one in favour of the plans, which had been recommended for approval by planning officers, following a protracted planning process beset by a bitter row between the college and campaigners over the scheme’s impact on nearby heritage assets.
Grafton’s proposals would see a 1970s library demolished and replaced with a new four-storey ‘Library+’ building on Christ’s Lane, a public street lined with shops.
The proposed scheme, which has been designed to last for 200 years, was initially approved in November 2025 but was subsequently the subject of a judicial review brought by Christ’s Lane Action Group (CLAG).
The original consent was later quashed and an identical application was resubmitted and presented to Cambridge council’s planning committee for a second time last week,
CLAG wrote to Rayner yesterday morning requesting a holding direction on the scheme before Labour MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner followed up with his own letter to the secretary of state yesterday afternoon. Rayner replied in the evening to confirm that an Article 31 direction had been issued.
The council had been due to issue its official approval for the newer application on Friday 16 October.
A spokesperson for Christ’s College said: “This last-minute intervention is extremely disappointing following strong support (6-1) for the Library+ scheme by the democratically elected planning committee of the City Council last Wednesday. This is the second time that councillors have voted to approve the project.
“We remain fully committed to our well-designed, accessible and sustainable Library+ scheme which will bring multiple benefits to our students and to the City of Cambridge.”
CLAG has hailed Rayner’s direction, adding: “We do not oppose a new library. We never have. We oppose a building, identical to the one before the Court, that Historic England called “too big for its location”, set hard against Grade I courts, and waved through on a report that itself found it in conflict with the Local Plan. Christ’s needs a new library. It does not need this one.”
Grafton Architects is lead architect with the project team including Caroe on conservation, Fox Fernley Landscape Office on landscape, Ridge as project manager, Turley on planning, David Bonnett Associates on accessibility and Smith & Wallwork Engineers on structures and civils.
2 Readers' comments