Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Some of you may be old enough to remember the when John Prescott tried to bring in a new generation of tramways and light rail into UK cities. You can: Read what the Commons Transport Committee concluded on 23 March 2005 Read the Government’s response of 12 October 2005 ….and judge for yourselves. The CommitteeContinue reading “Have Transport ministers learnt the light rail lessons of 2005?”

The building was saved from the wrecking ball by a planning inspector who refused an appeal by the site owner in late 2025. But nothing has happened since. Can the new development corporation and Cambridge City Council bring it back into public use – even as a ‘meanwhile use’? I wrote about the appeal here,Continue reading “Can the Hobson Street cinema building be brought back into use under Andy Burnham’s new policy?”

My head is too frazzled to make sense of what’s actually in them but more than a few of you will be interested in their contents – reports that were uploaded yesterday “The Water Scarcity Group is an independent advisory group formed in 2023 to tackle water scarcity and resource issues in Greater Cambridge. WaterContinue reading “Cambridge Water Scarcity Group publishes new reports”

The Greater Cambridge Partnership Assembly discussed buses in light of issues raised at Cambridgeshire County Council, as one of the meeting papers reminded me of the data collected about transport journeys that most people miss. Plus a look back at Smarter Cambridge Transport’s travel hub concept from a decade ago. Image: Cambridge Area Bus UsersContinue reading “June 2026 snapshot of the state of transport in Cambridge”

The Public Map East Project is running a number of community sessions over the school half term at the end of October. With that in mind, some of you may be interested in the book by Teresa Strachan titled: Engaging Children and Young People in Planning: A Handbook for Transformative Practice (2024) Routledge. Image: AContinue reading “Mapping communities in South Cambridge”

Cambridgeshire County Councillors approved the motion to submit an application for a new busway from Waterbeach to Cambridge on behalf of the Greater Cambridge Partnership I wrote about this just over a week ago here. I assumed the motion would pass without much comment so was a little surprised to hear some of the criticismsContinue reading “Opposition County Councillors raise concerns over project management of busway construction”

New meeting papers for the city council’s Cabinet include proposals for a new Public Spaces Protection Order for anti-social behaviour driving You can read the papers here – mindful that the meeting is not taking place at the Guildhall but rather at Anglia Ruskin University (in room LAB 027 – A), East Road, Cambridge CB1Continue reading “Cambridge City Council acts on noisy vehicles and HMOs”

…and other forms of public transport which the Government’s Mass Transit Task Force has been working on over the summer. In the meantime, I continue to look for reports and evidence bases – such as this report for UK Tram in June 2014 UK Tram’s 2014 report on the economic impacts of light rail systemsContinue reading “Waiting for the Mass Transit Taskforce’s report on light rail vs busways…”

This follows on from my previous post covering Hertfordshire, this post looks at the counties east and west of Cambridge. You can: Have a look at Suffolk County Council’s Local Transport Plan 2025-40 pages – mindful that this was signed off before the creation of the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation, whose boundaries are on itsContinue reading “How does Suffolk do on transport plans and links to Cambridge?”

North Hertfordshire District Council has opened a public consultation to update its local plan. One of its main towns, Royston, is on the Hertfordshire/Cambridgeshire border and is less than 15 miles from Cambridge. How will it manage the growth pressures from Cambridge spilling over the county boundary? You can: see the North Herts new localContinue reading “Hertfordshire transport plan and North Herts new local plan – consultations Oct-Nov 2026”