The area around the deconsecrated church of St Andrew the Less is currently undergoing a significant economic shift. Cambridge City Council have already begun the process of investing up to £100 million into Abbey Ward to address poverty in the area. This comprises part of the council’s larger goal of addressing inequality in Cambridge, which includes the development of a Framework for Change for the north of the city and a focus on funding community projects that directly tackle deprivation.
Pensions company Railpen have also put forward plans to redevelop two of the city’s largest shopping centres, the Beehive and Cambridge Retail Park, both in Abbey Ward, into a hub for science and technology research, part of the national government’s larger economic plan to add up to £78 billion to our country’s economy by 2035. The redevelopment of the Beehive and Cambridge Retail Park, as well as other sites on Newmarket Road and improved transport links, will bring at least 6000 new jobs to the area, which is expected to lead to over £10 million being spent at local businesses.
On an even more local level, the ‘Riverside Vision’ being championed by the Riverside Area Residents Association (RARA) seeks to sustain and enhance the qualities and elements of the riverside pedestrian and cycle corridor between the Midsummer and Stourbridge Commons, which hosts and links most of Abbey’s attractions and within which the revived St Andrew the Less would be a significant feature. The ‘Riverside Vision’ aspires to a more creative and integrated approach to the riverside, including its opportunities for moorings to provide river-borne tourists and visitors to include St Andrew the Less on their Abbey area itinerary.
In an area undergoing such regeneration it is vital that historic buildings continue to exist, enhancing the texture of the built environment, and enabling opportunity for discovery, exploration and wonder. St Andrew the Less and its churchyard, as well as its records of births, marriages and deaths provide a unique, tangible and spiritual link between the community’s past, present and future. This project will capitalise on the changes in the area and provide community cohesion through exploration of the natural and built heritage, place-based learning, collaborative events, arts and culture.