City site now first choice for scheme

A site at the Arbury Camp development on the northern fringe of the city is being considered for the facility, which would include a curling rink.

Prof Bill Harris, head coach of Cambridge University's ice hockey team, said: "It is a possibility. We have not formalised plans anywhere yet because we do not have a detailed planning application that has been approved."

He added: "We did put one in for Cambourne and the response from South Cambridgeshire District Council was that we should look at other sites in the city before they could give us approval to build at Cambourne."

Prof Harris said Cambourne remained the second-best option, should the plans for Arbury Camp collapse.

Gareth Jones, the council's deputy planning director, confirmed that the planning application for Cambourne had hit problems.

"We did not think it was a runner, effectively," he said.

"We are looking for everything to be as sustainable as possible and putting it at Cambourne would mean that people would have to drive further."

A spokeswoman for the university agreed that the Arbury site was a more attractive option.

She said: "We would generally feel any facilities would be better closer to the people who were going to use them."

John Slater, spokesman for the Cambourne Consortium, which had worked with the university on the original ice rink plans, said: "The developers of Cambourne are aware that an alternative site has been identified for an ice rink, and it is now under consideration by both the university and the local authority.

"The option for Cambourne to host the facility is very much still a possibility and one that the developers of Cambourne welcome. However, the final decision rests with South Cambridgeshire District Council."

A planning application for Arbury might be put in early next year. Building work could start before the end of 2004 if the plans are approved.

Source: Cambridge Evening News, 13 December 2003

IT SEEMS THE ICE RINK GROUP WERE NOT AWARE OF THIS WITHDRAWAL AND IT SEEMS THEY ARE STILL PURSUING THE CAMBOURNE PROPOSAL BUT LOOKING AT OTHER SITES IN CAMBRIDGE

"Our group could not support the appeal until we had assured ourselves and SCDC that the alternative sites, which they considered preferential in terms of sequential testing and which they had pointed us towards, had been thoroughly checked out. We are in the process of doing that now."

A similar appeal has been submitted for the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) for non determination of planning permission.
This is still being negotiated with planning, but it will not be ready for the 1000 homes trigger point.