How should Cambridgeshire engage with residential communities?

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

Have a read of their report and tell them what you think! Also, one of Cambridge’s post-war high-rise (for Cambridge!) housing developments is being demolished and replaced with new modern flats

You can read Cambridgeshire County Council’s Engagement and Consultation Strategy at Item 10 here.

“This strategy explains how the council will ensure that the public:

  • understand how the council will provide feedback after a consultation has occurred.
  • have a say in decisions that affect them
  • know how to get involved
  • understand how their feedback has been used”

The County Council also restates the Gunning Principles:

“Therefore, besides the engagement guidelines, consultations must also follow the Gunning Principles [following a 1985 court case] to ensure they are conducted legitimately and effectively:

  1. Consult early: Consultations must happen when proposals are still being
    developed, so residents’ input can influence the final decision.
  2. Provide enough information: The council must give enough details to residents
    to understand the proposals and provide informed feedback.
  3. Allow enough time: There must be adequate time for people to respond to the
    consultation, appropriate to the importance of the decision.
  4. Consider feedback seriously: Decision-makers must genuinely consider the
    consultation feedback before making the final decision.

The record of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, of which the County Council holds a voting seat on, leaves much to be desired as Smarter Cambridge Transport wrote.

Which reminds me – GCP Board Papers for 07 November 2024 are out now

I’m still of the view that without a comprehensive plan for citizenship and civic education – combined with an overhaul of how our city and county are governed, there’s only so far something like this can go. Hence I’m going to hold fire until we get a clear statement from ministers about what the Municipal Journal has trailed in the run up to the Budget (I.e. that long-awaited overhaul of local government as recommended by the last Parliament in late 2022). That report was from the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee – one that has since been refreshed and has a new membership announced here. One of those members is Ely and East Cambridgeshire MP Charlotte Cane (Lib Dems), which pleases me muchly for the simply reason that it gives local councillors amongst others a direct line to an MP able to hold ministers to account on any select committee inquiry regarding local government administration. With the Devolution Bill looming, I expect this will come up again.

Other select committees have confirmed their memberships too.

You can read who is on what committee here. The useful thing with select committees is that MPs can ask follow-up questions and develop a line of inquiry. It makes it harder for ministers and hostile witnesses to avoid the question – even more so if the MP concerned is a properly-trained inquisitor such as a barrister who can skewer slippery witnesses with a series of closed questions cutting off routes of escape.

One interesting local one to watch is the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee where Peterborough’s Labour MP Andrew Pakes will find himself cross-examining Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner in the latter’s role as Minister for Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries. That doesn’t mean the latter will get an easy time. Most MPs tend to do a good job of leaving party political allegiance at the select committee door and following the evidence – even if it means grilling a minister in the same party. And competent ministers also accept that such scrutiny is part of the job.

Other locally-linked appointments include Alex Mayer – former Labour MEP who was active in Cambridgeshire Labour for a number of years before her successful election to Parliament as MP for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard (near Luton) – she’s on the Transport Select Committee. Former Romsey councillor and ex-Mayor of Cambridge Barry Gardiner MP (whose daughter, Beth was recently elected in Romsey) returns to the Environmental Audit Committee, MPs having also persuaded the Committee to give a seat to The Green Party’s Dr Ellie Chowns.

There’s also a reminder on the Committee News Page of the recommendation of a new committee tasked with ensuring public inquiry recommendations are followed through by ministers. Have a read of the Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee here

New flats for old new flats on old Newtown

I’ve moaned about ‘worse than communism’ building exteriors before, and sadly the much-needed redevelopment of Hanover and Princess Court falls into the same trap created by austerity combined with contemporary architectural trends.

Above-left, a CGI from Hanover and Princess Court, and Above-right, a propaganda poster from East Germany in the mid-1980s.

If your built environment vision images are less colourful and less varied than their late 20th century command economy equivalents, it’s hardly a great advertisement for the construction industry’s private sector firms. Anyway, you can see the detail at the Public Exhibition:

  • Thursday 7th November
  • 3pm till 7pm
  • St. Paul’s Church, Hills Road, CB2 1JP

…or click and scroll to the end to take the survey here.

I’ve not forgotten some of the other local developments!

…to name but a few.

Above – I feel spotted! When you are spoofed by Waterford Whispers! (The same place that turned a UK tabloid headline about Xmas being replaced into an actual festival!)

Oh the joys of having an over-active mind combined with limited mobility!

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to:

Below – For those of you interested in local history, get involved with Together Culture’s project on the history of The Kite