Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Cambridge United Football Club has published its official response to the draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan You can read: In their submission they recommend the council planners make provision for both the improvement of the Abbey Stadium, and also for a possible move ideally to somewhere on the Cambridge East (Airport) site. That said, theContinue reading “Cambridge United FC and the future of Cambridge”

Fenland District Council has an open consultation on the future of the district (see here) – closing date 16 March 2026, as the district plans for the next quarter of a century (to 2050) The drivers for this were both the proposed reservoir which needs more work done on the plans according to OfWat backContinue reading “Chatteris & Fenland’s new local plan in a growing Cambridge sub-region”

Both the leader of the city council and his opposition shadow leader speak out against the proposed removal of planning powers from local government to a new Cambridge Development Corporation (*Note some workshop and offline discussion ideas here) You can read: While I’ve not seen a published statement from The Greens, their 2023 manifesto wasContinue reading “Cambridge councillors oppose loss of planning powers”

The Government has published its statutory consultation with four options You can read the consultation here Each of the councils were invited to submit proposals containing significant evidence bases to support their proposals. Further down the page is an explanation of why they’ve gone into so much detail: “Although this will be a technical exercise,Continue reading “Localgov reorganisation in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough”

Draft boundaries/areas confirmed as Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District only – and small scale planning applications will remain within local government control – but can the development corporation put an end to Kett House Karbuncle designs? You can access the consultation here Does anyone want to take part in some offline discussions on theContinue reading “Cambridge Development Corporation consultation launched”

It comes as no surprise to anyone that the Cambridge City Council Planning Committee rubberstamped the Kett House Karbuncle five votes to one You can watch the planning hearing here and come to your own conclusions. The only councillor objecting was Cllr Mike Todd Jones (Lab – Arbury) – but don’t worry, I’m not goingContinue reading “Cambridge gatesways celebrate disaster capitalist building design”

Going by previous rates of growth, it would generate an estimated £5million per year – or £25million over five years. How much difference will that make to the city? The full report is at Item 5 Annex B of the City Council’s Cabinet Papers here. The officer’s summary is in the item 5 heading –Continue reading “Cambridge City Council publishes proposals for Community Infrastructure Levy”

Cross-posted from Lost Cambridge – my local history blog. The lessons from half a century ago also apply today. Back in October 2021 I wrote a feature about the troubles that Prof John Parry Lewis faced as the Government’s appointed figure to lead the Cambridge Economic Sub-regional study (See my blogpost here). As Peter Freeman CBEContinue reading “Profile of John Parry Lewis – the Peter Freeman of 1970s Cambridge”

Every year local planning authorities have to publish statistics on housing completions – and there are 400 pages of tables and things to wade through. And that’s just for one meeting item! Two years ago I wrote about the figures for two years ago. How have we done since then? The latest statistics cover theContinue reading “Cambridge house building data published as Peter Freeman talks about leisure facilities”

They demand far more clarity on the proposals being prepared by the Cambridge Growth Company, and ask detailed questions about lines of accountability You can watch the video here and browse through the meeting papers here. As with the Cambridge City Council cross-examination last month he began with a presentation. Above – Cambridge #Localgov BlockbustersContinue reading “Peter Freeman cross-examined by South Cambridgeshire councillors”