Dr Andy Williams (again) asks for a much-improved system of information management to ensure everyone can keep track on what each other is doing
Presumably this is prior to any massive overhaul of local institutions in the face of an over-fragmented structure, but it makes sense.
Dr Williams picked up on Item 6 – Director’s Report from the CPCA Transport Director in the meeting earlier on the week. You can have a listen to the report that Dr Williams was referring to here.
“There’s stuff being done by the CPCA, the county, the city, the GCP – and now the growth company….can we have all the information in the same place?”
“Can we follow in the spirit of [the CPCA’s director of transport] and have quarterly reports covering not just what the GCP has done, but any relevant developments from partner organisations?”
***Yes! Please?!?!***
This helps make the point the Cambs Unitaries Campaign (which I support) argues about the duplication and the inevitable walls that build up between the separate institutions – something we saw happen in the late 2010s between the CPCA and GCP.
Public questions on Waterbeach Newtown
You can watch the exchanges here. You can also see the written version of the questions at the foot of the papers here. There are a host of issues related to the construction of the newtown on the old barracks, previously a WWII-era RAF base. There’s also the proposed busway which, like all of the others makes no provision for what will happen to the buses once they get into the centre of Cambridge. Which makes me wonder what interested students would come up with if that problem was passed to them to resolve. Because while they don’t have political or technical responsibilities related to the transport infrastructure plans, and furthermore because while so many of the decisions pre-date their arrival, they and their generation of young adults will have to live with the consequences for far, far longer. (Which is why I think the GCP should have done a much, much better job of engaging with children and young people from the start).
Looming updates from Cambridge City Council on what the Government has said
I mentioned earlier about scrutiny concerns from Cllr Dave Baigent (Labour – Romsey) over meetings between senior council officers and The Government on the future of Cambridge. This was also picked up in the Cambridge News here. The up-coming Strategy & Resources Committee on Thurs 21 Nov 2024, followed by the Full Council on Thurs 28 Nov 2024, both at The Guildhall are the meetings to keep an eye out for – and ones to submit any public questions to the city council on.
Those of you looking for outlets for opinion pieces or your own write-ups of meetings you have been to, may be interested in:
Also, don’t forget the students’ paper Varsity which every so often will cover a local government issue.
Given the decline in mainstream news reporting, there may be a few of you who want to support some of the local alternatives trying to fill that gap.
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:
- Follow me on BSky <- A critical mass of public policy people seem to have moved here
- Like my Facebook page
- Consider a small donation to help fund my continued research and reporting on local democracy in and around Cambridge.
Below: Opening this month: The Cambridge Room. Let’s talk about the future of our city – design and built environment included
The Cambridge Town Owl 