Greater Cambridge Local Plan drawing and Lego competition for Under-18s

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

The Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service have launched a series of competitions. (See here – scroll down) For the Lego one, you’re not allowed to go to LegoLand and get your photo taken behind one of the nice buildings and claim that it’s yours.

If you’re not familiar with the ‘draft local plan’ and what it’s about, see the video from the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service (covering Cambridge City Council & South Cambridgeshire District Council) below.

Above – having watched the video, then browse through this before looking at the quotation and link below.

“We are encouraging participation in planning through two competitions. The first is a Lego competition, inviting young people under the age of 18 to submit photos of their creations. We are looking for buildings, places or streets that they would like to see in the new communities of Cambourne North or Grange Farm. The competition is open throughout the consultation period, and a prize is up for grabs for the best creation!”

Above – GCSP Announcement

Above – Puffles the Dragon Fairy would not be allowed to submit this town hall design because it’s from an official Lego set. Even though there is far more variety and detailing than in your average box-like development from industry.

Above – the poster linked to the GCSP page announcement.

“The second competition, open to all ages, is a drawing competition asking for drawings or illustrations for one or all of the seven themes of the Plan. Seven winners will receive a prize, and their drawing will be included in the next version of the Local Plan!”

Chances are lots of posters of this would have a greater chance of catching the public’s attention than normal consultation posters.

Also, I think the GCSP should invite local firms to donate prizes and/or contributions towards a prize fund – the more that gets donated, the more prizes that can be given out eg for a ‘highly commended’ tier for each of the age groups. Or even separate prizes for those at state schools vs those at private schools. Only anecdotally I can’t help noticing in other competitions (Esp art-related) that private schools are disproportionately represented, and those schools located in the more economically-deprived parts of our city are seldom seen. Which also makes me wonder if those schools and their parents are even made aware in the first place.

Can Cambridgeshire Libraries host drawing sessions?

I’m sure they could – a shout out for volunteers? Furthermore, such events would be chances to draw parents’ attention to – such as

At such sessions, encouraging children to talk about their opinions and showing them some of the maps is well worth doing.

I mentioned earlier having been interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about Cambridge Science Park (have a listen here from 3h 10mins in) having had a sleepless night (again). Hence spending most of the morning and early afternoon under multiple duvets. Hence not getting out of the house for a morning coffee until just after 3pm, bringing out some additional map print outs with me.

Blissfully unaware of the timing (the end of the primary school day), I got accosted by two representatives of that most inquisitive, unpredictable, and toughest of interrogators: primary school-aged children! 

Not satisfied with going through the maps, they also cross-examined today’s edition of the Cambridge Independent. No hesitation, as soon as they saw the colourful images they started asking questions!

Tips for planners, councillors, and officers:
  • Be prepared to be taken down the most random of lines of questioning (and give them the freedom to exhaust the line of inquiry rather than trying to redirect them). Half of the conversation involved pronunciation of words and explaining/discussing what they meant, or counting the number of different coloured dots on a map.
  • Ask them for their opinions – and also ask them questions about very basic principles where there is no right answer. Especially where there are contested proposals for the use of a piece of land. “We should grow trees here!” *But that’s a tennis court – what do you think the tennis players might say?*
  • Bring along *lots* of large colourful print outs that:
    • A) the children can write on, and
    • B) that parents can take away with them …along with the details on how children and parents can find out more.
  • At the most basic level for time-pressed parents, https://www.writetothem.com/ **really helps** as they only need their postcode to find the names of their elected councillors & MPs, and the email template. Advise parents/carers that they and their children can put their questions to them irrespective of political affiliation, and that elected representatives have duties towards their constituents irrespective of party politics.
  • Encourage the parents and children to keep informed about what is happening, and follow up on what they’ve submitted. (*Start the habit of democracy and civics*)

I think the mother of the children got just as much out of all of that just watching and listening to her children putting so many questions to me – perhaps also giving her a much-needed break/pause. (I genuinely don’t know how parents do it, because low-level fatigue that comes with my neurodiverse disposition has been semi-permanent for as long as I can remember. Only recently did I discover what it was and why it was). Which has also shaped my own mindset because although not a parent myself (I have no desire to become one either because of health), I sort of see it as my civic responsibility to future generations to do some of the community-related things that parents don’t have the time to do themselves. Such as wading through the 700 page consultation document and the 8,000+ pages of reports in the appendices.

Drop-in events

Click here and scroll down for the drop-in events list which council officers and some councillors will be at. I’ve got a couple more meetups looming that I’m awaiting confirmation for on Saturday 24th Jan and Sat 31st Jan. Before that, Cllr Anna Smith (Lab – Coleridge) will be taking questions on the proposed Cambridge East Station and the proposed new eastern entrance to the existing Cambridge Station. Sat 17 Jan 2026 at the Scout Hut on Flamsteed Road from 2-4pm.

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: