TL/DR? Read through all of these (click on the ‘supporting evidence’ tab)
[Updated to add: Watch the presentation at The Guildhall of 21 June 2023 here]
Back in May 2021 I invited people to read through lots of complicated stuff in this blogpost but I’m not sure anyone took me up on it! Essentially it was my plea to get people interested in the proposals from the Cambridge Biomedical Campus that were published a few weeks before I posed that blogpost – the CBC Vision 2050.
Since then we’ve got through two Prime Ministers and are onto the third – and possibly the fourth within the next 18 months. I’ll leave it to Dr Hannah White of the Institute for Government to highlight the institutional lessons to be learned from the debacle of the former Member for Bullingdon. And let’s not forget the CV19 Public Inquiry is now happening, with former Chancellor George Osborne gaslighting the nation over his grim record of austerity. I hope the final report rinses him completely.
The Cambridge Biomedical Campus to brief city and district councillors on their plans
You can see the notice here, with the presentations being live-streamed and later available online to re-watch.
‘Look at those lovely pink trees!’

Above: ***Look at those f’ugly monstrosities they want to build behind them!!!!***
As I mentioned, click on the tab that says ‘supporting evidence’ here, then scroll down to the spatial masterplan documents at the foot of the table and scrutinise them. Then…

Above – what ever your view is, let the CBC know what you think.
Otherwise it’ll just be me and a few others jumping up and down. (Actually it won’t be – the plans are too big to hide).
Any transport strategy for the CBC that does not involve light rail isn’t worth the paper it is printed on. In my opinion!

Above – that transport strategy is now out of date as it refers to the long-since-abolished CAM Metro
As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, the Cambridge Connect Light Rail proposals are the only realistic option out there in the public domain. Which reminds me, the next Rail Future meeting for East Anglia is in September – and is in Norwich. December’s one is in Cambridge.
‘Development principles: We are going to build ugly spreadsheet buildings and you cannot stop us!’
…seems to be the line to take these days.

Which will be interesting to see how it copes with the guidance on the very subjective viewpoint of beauty in architecture – as industry debates the National Model Design Code – for example RIBA in March 2023 here. A local response from Cambridge PPF is here.

Above – from the National Model Design Code: ‘A well-designed place’
The less said about Eddington in Cambridge (The development, not the eminent scientist) the better. Which reminds me – there are a few copies of the book Hideous Cambridge going on sale.
Anyway, it’s gone midnight and I was supposed to have an earlier night because the meeting starts at 10am and I’m trying to work out if I have enough spoons to rock up or if I’ll watch online.
Comments on a postcard please.
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