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40 C O N T E X T 1 7 9 : M A R C H 2 0 2 4 JOHN PRESTON The battle for Mill Road Free Library The first of two articles tells the story of how the listed former Mill Road Free Library in Cambridge has suffered from years of failures by the county and city councils. The Crooked House demolition and Sycamore Gap tree felling have raised national outcries about the adequacy of statutory protection. But what about the duties on, and actions (or inac- tion) of local authorities as owners, developers and planning authorities? Here is a saga which has seen a public listed building (and poten- tial community centrepiece) become at risk and blighted due to county and city councils scandalously neglecting responsibilities, not- withstanding the best efforts of conservation officers. This is the first of two articles. The former Mill Road Free Library in Cambridge is the only listed building on what has been called England’s most diverse street, a mile-long stretch of conservation area. The library was built in red brick and Mansfield stone for the Borough of Cambridge to the design of Frank Waters. It opened in 1897 and was listed Grade II in 1972, after which its ownership passed to the county council in 1974. In 1992 I held the conservation area designation consultation in the library, but in 1996 the county council closed it, let it on a short-term lease as a night shelter, and boarded up the windows. The library’s centenary in 1997 saw an intense local campaign to reopen it as a community resource, with proposals including an arts centre. In 1999 the county council let the building to the Indian Community and Cultural Association (ICCA) on a 25-year repairing lease. The former library has many challenges. It fills its entire site at the entrance to the city council’s former depot. It has windows only on the south and west elevations, only one door, and just two pay-and-display parking spaces outside. The lack of secondary means of escape restricted occupancy to 60. The only potential access solution (given ownership, architecture and levels constraints) was through the north gable into an adjacent council building, but the ICCA installed a Hindu shrine across the whole north wall. By the time they opened The former library in 2019 (All photos: John Preston)