Given that a related question was raised by Dr Lesley Dee in February 2019, and that issues around Shire Hall site access have been discussed regularly at previous Council meetings, I will respond to the petition in a relatively brief way.

 The County Council sold the site of 35 Magrath Avenue on 31st March 1989 to Granta Housing, who subsequently sold the site to Trinity College. The 1989 transfer required Granta to build a cycle path and a footpath to Shire Hall, and preserve rights for the County Council and its successors to use them. It should be noted that the creation of a public right of way was not intended, and the transfer stated that the Right of Way may be closed once a year to ensure that a public Right of Way was not created. Trinity College have erected signs to that effect.

 Over the 30 years since, the access path has regularly been used by members of the public, County Council staff and occupiers of the Trinity College buildings, but I reiterate that this is not a public Right of Way.

 The County Council is not planning to sell the site and the permissive rights, personal to the Council, remain as originally intended.

 Creating a public access is in the gift of Trinity College and the County Council is limited in what it can do. The County Council has written to Trinity College, through their agent Bidwells, four times asking to explore the option of upgrading the permissive access. They have recently re-confirmed that they were not willing to upgrade the right to a public right of way due to anti-social confrontations between cyclist and pedestrians/vehicles. They fully understand the Council’s permissive rights to the Shire Hall site.

 Whilst understanding the wishes of local residents for the County Council to secure the access as a public right of way, this is not possible without the agreement of Trinity College. However, as we are not disposing of the freehold of the site, our permissive rights remain unfettered.

 Cllr Mac McGuire

Chairman, Cambridgeshire County Council