Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

…which included me. You can watch the video here. The Cambridge Cycling Campaign is one of a number of local campaign groups seeking to improve transport in and around our city. I am a member. As well as joining the cycling campaign you can also join any of these: Cambridge Area Bus Users Group CambridgeContinue reading “E-Scooter firm running Cambridge pilot cross-examined by CamCycle Members”

That means civic society and the rest of us stepping forward to help facilitate some essential actions that all too often are missed. The one huge gaping hole in our political system is with organised public debates between competing candidates: There is no recognised authority or organisation responsible for ensuring every contested election has aContinue reading “Local Democracy is too important to leave to the politicians”

The Century-long Victoria County Histories Project has challenged anyone interested in their local history to write a vision for what their village/town/city might be like in 2050. Some of you may also be interested in the History Policy event Levelling up: Histories, Cultures, Challenges on 17 May at 5;30pm online. See also the British AssociationContinue reading “My Cambridge 2050 – following post-Covid19”

…and how can we ensure that the discussions with local residents happen all year round rather than just at election time? This stems from this post: …and this post by CambsLive Journalist Alya Zayed. “Something must be done about engagement!” Ms Zayed is quite right on both counts in her final post. Firstly, being aContinue reading “How does the city of Cambridge persuade expert researchers engage in local democracy and the future of Cambridge?”

…and the soul-destroying impact of the continued isolation especially for those still vulnerable in this pandemic. …which is why my heart sank a little further on seeing this graph. It has been over a year since the country went into its first lockdown. In my case it started earlier because I simply wasn’t willing toContinue reading “Life thru social media lenses”

….Or is part of it a symptom of being stuck to the small screen in lockdown? Think of it like all of the scandals engulfing Boris Johnson’s administration but like the sketch below: ***Too much news!*** Plus I’m still trying to work out how to embed my new crowd-funding page into this blog of mine.Continue reading “Too much stuff going on – it’s exhausting!”

So said Mr Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee to a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament on Thurs 15 April 2021. You can watch/listen to his remarks here. You can read the full report by the Education Select Committee on Lifelong Learning here. It’s headline demand is for aContinue reading ““39% of employers admit to training none of their staff””

Even though some of the restrictions have been lifted recently, we will not be having the set piece exchanges where candidates face halls full of people asking lots of questions The candidate lists have now been published. As the database gets filled in, https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ will be able to display the candidates in your area justContinue reading “How small businesses can help their communities engage with election candidates in the face of lockdown”

Including some of the background information you can use to ask questions of the candidates. You can find out who the candidates are in your area using your postcode at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ The candidates are also listed on the WikiPage for these elections here, and also on the Policing Insight page here. For those of youContinue reading “The Police & Crime Commissioner Elections 2021 for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough”