Upgraded Street Scene Rolled Out Across Cambridge

Art benches, upgraded street lighting and seating are all part of a package of street and open space improvements across the city centre

A £710,000 grant was awarded to support the city’s sustainable recovery following the pandemic and has been used to deliver the following city centre improvements:

- Art benches on Christ’s Lane – with the support of Christ’s College – to help support local artists and brighten up the city. Community artists are able to display their work on the benches free of charge for up to a month, to support artists who may lack access to funding or commercial opportunities.

- New communal seating area for Peas Hill to facilitate picnic eating and ‘pop-up’ public entertainment. Bike parking has been re-orientated increasing capacity for parked bicycles. New trees and planters have been installed here to provide shade in the summer, boost air quality and improve biodiversity.

- Upgraded street lighting across Christ’s Pieces and New Square to enhance night-time public safety.

- Mobile visitor information point delivered through two electric assisted quad bikes to be located at high footfall locations around the city centre, including Station Square and Market Square

- Festoon lighting on Fitzroy Street, Market Passage and Peas Hill to light up the city at night. The mature beech tree at St John’s College, opposite Round Church, has also been wrapped in decorative lighting.

- A multi-programmable light display in Petty Cury, with new projection lighting to the front facades of the Senate House and the University Old Schools.

- New market stall canopies in the Market Square.

- New street seating areas in St Andrew’s Street and Sussex Street. The previously damaged seating on Sidney Street has been replaced with higher quality units.

- Further CCTV cameras are also being installed in the city centre as part of the programme to enhance public safety and security.

The works are the result of a CPCA Business Board Local Growth Fund grant awarded to the council and its partners – Cambridge BID, Cambridgeshire County Council, King’s College Cambridge and Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises. The Business Board is the Local Enterprise Partnership for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and is responsible for supporting economic, jobs and skills growth across the region.

Pictured: from left to right: Alex Plant (Chair of the CPCA Business Board), Cllr Alice Gilderdale (Executive Councillor for Recovery, Employment and Community Safety), Sally Fallows (Development Officer at Cambridge Community Arts), Mariza Falcioni (Artist), Cllr Anna Smith (Leader of the council and acting Mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority), pictured on the art benches on Christ’s Lane.