New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald Explained

New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald
Map Type:	Cambridgeshire
Address:	New Shire Hall Emery Crescent Alconbury Weald Huntingdon PE284YE
Location City:	The Stukeleys (parish)
Location Country:	United Kingdom
Map Dot Label:	New Shire Hall
Coordinates:	52.3761°N -0.239°W
Completion Date:	2020
Architect:	Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
Architectural Style:	Modern

New Shire Hall is a municipal building on Emery Crescent, Alconbury Weald, Cambridgeshire, England, built in 20192020. It is the headquarters of Cambridgeshire County Council.

History

Cambridgeshire County Council was created in 1889^[1] and was previously based at various premises in the county town of Cambridge, notably including County Hall, Cambridge from 1914 to 1932 and Shire Hall, Cambridge from 1932 to 2021.^[2]

In December 2017, as part of a cost-saving scheme, the county council announced plans to move to a smaller purpose-built facility at Alconbury Weald, a new settlement being developed on the RAF Alconbury site in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, to the north-west of the town of Huntingdon.^[3] The site at Alconbury Weald had historically been in the county of Huntingdonshire, which had been absorbed into Cambridgeshire in 1974. The county council's proposed move to Alconbury Weald was approved by the full county council in May 2018.^{[4] [5]}

The county council decided to name the new building at Alconbury Weald "New Shire Hall".^[6] It was built by contractors R. G. Carter to plans by the architectural firm of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, with construction work starting in December 2019. The new building was reported to cost £18.3 million.^{[7] [8]} The final committee meeting to be held at Shire Hall was on 12 March 2020. Meetings were then held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the rest of 2020 and first part of 2021, during which time the council vacated Shire Hall and moved to New Shire Hall, with the first committee meeting at New Shire Hall being held in September 2021.^[9]

An official opening ceremony was held on 8 July 2022, and the first meeting of the full county council to be held in the building followed later that month.^{[10] [11]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: Local Government Act 1888. Legislation.gov.uk. 17 August 2019.
2. Book: Pevsner, Nikolaus . 1970. The Buildings of England: Cambridgeshire. Penguin. London. 232. 978-0300205961.
3. Web site: Historic Shire Hall in Cambridge looks set to close and become a tourist attraction as part of county council plans to save £45 million. Cambs Times. 7 February 2018. 14 November 2020.
4. Web site: Cambridgeshire County Council backs HQ move to Alconbury site. 15 May 2018. BBC. 14 November 2020.
5. News: Makey . Julian . County council HQ will move to Alconbury Weald - decision . 25 March 2022 . Hunts Post . 15 May 2018.
6. News: Council to name new £18m HQ 'New Shire Hall'. 15 February 2021. Cambridgeshire Times. 28 March 2022.
7. Web site: Building work starts on new Cambridgeshire County Council HQ. 13 December 2019. Fenland Citizen. 14 November 2020.
8. Web site: Cambridgeshire County Council begins work on £18.3m 'civic hub' at Alconbury Weald for up to 600 staff. 16 December 2019. Ely Standard. 14 November 2020.
9. Web site: Children and Young People Committee, 14 September 2021 . Cambridgeshire County Council . 24 March 2022.
10. News: Mason . Daniel . County council's £18m headquarters officially opens for business . 20 July 2022 . Ely Standard . 12 July 2022.
11. Web site: County Council meeting, 19 July 2022 . Cambridgeshire County Council . 20 July 2022.