Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

TL:DR Every district, town and city will need to plan for this – and they need to start now I’m currently browsing through the index of some of the wartime era titles of the Vintage Penguin back catalogue. And it’s huge. (The RSPCA Bookshop on Mill Road, Cambridge has a big bookcase full of them).Continue reading “What is your town’s recovery plan for the post-Covid19 years?”

What happens when you put together [via Zoom of course] a group of undergraduates from various Cambridge colleges with local historians, councillors, and community activists? It sounds almost cliche to say it but I’ve been struggling to work out how Cambridge can take its local history profile up ‘to the next level’ so to speak.Continue reading “The Cambridge Hub’s Social Innovation Programme for students – and town groups”

You may have seen the headline: The article from South Cambs District Council is here, ironically illustrated by one of the most ugliest pieces of architecture within 15 miles of Cambridge, one that aesthetically tells us nothing about what the function of the building is as far as local people are concerned. As things stand,Continue reading “More planning woes at Greater Cambridge Planning, but where is the root of the problem?”

Not for the first time, the Prime Minister’s judgement has been found wanting – only this one resulted in the resignation of the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on the Ministerial Code. The statement from Cabinet Office on the Prime Minister’s decision is here. I’m not going to waste too much time on this. A fewContinue reading “That was corruption, and this is a resignation issue”

It has hit the headlines today, but the issue long pre-dates the pandemic, and more people are raising it as a problem – reflected in the nine pages of links the BBC has in its issue guide. The Chief Executive of Ipsos Mori, Ben Page put this out. Past thoughts Shortly after leaving the civilContinue reading “Loneliness in a pandemic”

And rank and file members of political parties need to call it out – irrespective of which political party does it. The BBC News article by Simon Read is here. See also Channel 4 news here. The report by the National Audit Office, both the full report and the executive summary, can be found here.Continue reading “This is corruption”

We saw headlines about a four day week today – but how to politicians and parties go beyond single headline-grabbing slogans and towards a set of co-ordinated policies in an interlinked manifesto? And what do community groups and civic society organisations need to start doing now to organise public debates & hustings, whether offline orContinue reading “Testing radical policy platforms at the local government ballot box”

I picked up this case from Katie Ridley of ITV Anglia What could have been a standard byline/paragraph of a local news story ( “Woman prosecuted for head-butting window”) ended up being something far more serious – a three year prison sentence. I hope the perpetrator gets the mental health support she needs, and thatContinue reading “Extending the Local Democracy Reporting Service to cover reporting trials at court”

This arrived recently Which I’ve digitised here – and reminds me, I need to stop spending so much on old books and pamphlets! (I’ve just ordered two more books so as to follow this blogpost up). Out of all of the places I’ve studied since the age of 18, I can’t think of a singleContinue reading “On educating adults – colleges for older learners?”

…but it’s still a long and bumpy road before we’re all bathed in daylight. Oh – and Boris is in trouble. This is what the election result meant. This is a victory for everyone who has been victimised by Trump. The harsh reality of his presidency: the Muslim ban, #BLM, women’s rights, children caged onContinue reading “The sun rises at the end of a long dark night in politics”