The press coverage so far

In the Media

• The Architects’ Journal · 29 July 2026Planning row erupts over Grafton’s Cambridge library jobThe AJ reports the judicial review, the consent order quashing the first permission on all four grounds, and the court’s refusal to let the College hurry it. The College says it was “forced to submit” the second application “because of the delay caused by the judicial review brought by CLAG”; its own planning agent concedes “the material submitted is almost entirely the same”. The second application “could go before the planning committee in September”. An archived copy of the article as published (image) is saved here.
• The Observer · 12 July 2026Letters: CLAG and Create Streets answer Rowan MooreCLAG’s letter, published in full: “Rowan Moore reviewed the architecture and buried the law.” The “first round” he told readers CLAG had won is the College’s own account of a case it has in fact agreed should be quashed on all four grounds, with residents’ costs paid. The founders of Create Streets write alongside: Cambridge “deserves buildings that meet their brief and enrich the city… The present design has not achieved either.” An archived copy of the letters as published (PDF) is saved here.
• The Observer · 5 July 2026In Cambridge, it’s town v gown over rival plans for a college libraryRowan Moore’s architecture column on the dispute. CLAG published a fact check setting five of the article’s factual statements beside the primary documents; The Observer has since corrected the article online.
• BBC News · 31 October 2025Cambridge college library ‘slowly falling down’Roger Hepher of CLAG calls the design ‘unnecessarily tall, bland and uninviting’ and significantly more massive than the previously approved scheme.
• Varsity · 13 August 2025Local group objects to ‘bulky’ new Christ’s libraryCLAG launches its objection, citing Historic England’s finding of harm from the building’s excessive bulk.
• Varsity · 14 September 2025News in Brief: Christ’s ‘canyon’CLAG says the design is ‘too large’ and could turn Christ’s Lane into a ‘canyon.’
• Varsity · 4 November 2025New Christ’s library approvedCouncillors approve the scheme; CLAG responds: ‘This isn’t the end … the planning process may be broken, but our resolve is not.’
• The CriticShould new buildings make Cambridge better or worse?Commentary arguing the scheme is overscaled and would harm the historic setting.
• Capturing Cambridge · Museum of Cambridge · 2025Christ’s Lane CampaignThe Museum of Cambridge’s record of the scheme and the campaign against it, including CLAG.
• Create Streets · October 2025Christ’s College Library: critical review and alternative design proposalIndependent review setting out a viable, lower-bulk alternative design (PDF).
• Cambridgeshire Live · 2025College accused of a ‘four-storey mega-development’Objectors say the scheme is an oversized ‘mega-development’ that narrows Christ’s Lane.
• Cambridge Independent · 2025Plans to demolish and rebuild a 1970s library as a four-storey ‘mega-development’Objectors warn of lasting harm from the building’s scale and bulk.
• Cambridge Independent · 2025Concern over plans to narrow Christ’s Lane for two yearsConcern over the years of disruption and the narrowing of Christ’s Lane during construction.