Former ‘eyesore’ Barclays site slammed as ‘health and safety menace’ as people call for action

A campaign has been launched to urge the council to take action

A four-year delay in plugging an “eyesore” in a Cambridgeshire town has prompted a campaign to demand enforcement action from a council. Civic Society of St Ives, a charity, has launched a campaign urging Huntingdonshire District Council to take action on the former Barclays Bank on 11-12 The Pavement.

The former Barclays site has stood mainly empty for the majority of the past four years, despite full planning permission being granted in late 2021 to redevelop it, followed by approval in 2022 to demolish it. A scaffolding rig was erected over the site which has been branded as “highly intrusive” by Civic Society.

Christine Phillpotts, Chair of Civic Society of St Ives stated that the derelict building is located “right in the heart” of the town’s Conservation Area. She feels as though it is a “real eyesore” and “potentially a health and safety menace”. People believe it is a “distraction and detraction from the town”, she claimed.

Due to this, the charity felt it was time to “chase” the council on the building’s future. The ‘Action for 11-12 The Pavement’ campaign, launched last month, urges Huntingdonshire District Council to use Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This gives councils the power to act when the condition of land or building adversely affects the amenity of an area.

The charity said an enforcement notice should be served to compel the removal of the scaffolding unless work will be carried out on it.

Chair Phillpotts said the team at the charity “very much worry about the children in town climbing up the scaffolding and climbing over the boards”. The charity would like to see it made “less dangerous”.

She added: “We feel for the shops on either side of it that are trying very hard to attract customers in. It looks terrible. People walking past say things like ‘it looks derelict’, ‘doesn’t the town look poor now’ and that’s not what we want people to think when they come into St Ives.”

Civic Society is “very keen” that it becomes an entity that encourages attraction to the town such as a shop or pop-up venue.

A spokesperson for Huntingdonshire District Council said: “We have been actively engaging with the developers to secure improvements to the appearance of the hoarding and encourage progression of the development. The developer has advised that the scaffolding is still required in connection with the development approved and will be removed as soon as practicable.”