Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Robert A.M. Stern was one of the partners that built new residential colleges at Yale in the mid-late 2010s. They were striking not least for taking their inspiration from existing pre-20thC buildings. Image – Yale Residential Colleges RAMSA How do you take on a challenge that involves designing 1.4miles of building fronts? That’s what theContinue reading “What would new Cambridge buildings be like if they followed a process used at Yale?”

Or rather, how do the documents contained within read today? Mindful that the original application was submitted to the city council way back in 2006 You can still find them today – go to https://applications.greatercambridgeplanning.org/online-applications/ and type in the reference 06/0796/OUT and all sorts of interesting things come out! Scroll to the earliest listing whichContinue reading “15 years after Cambridge City Council approved outline planning permission for the biomedical campus, how does it read today?”

Have your say on what they are proposing – noting their documents on the travel plan and on public art See the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning application page and type in Ref: 26/00092/FUL into the simple search box. Above – the brown building on a beige background that could have been from a fashion showContinue reading “Astra Zeneca submits planning application for long-awaited conference centre”

Dr Stella Creasy MP explains succinctly what recent events over Greenland mean for the UK, and why the UK Political Establishment needs to completely rethink its approach to the EU in the contest of national security, not just on economics and trade. I try to avoid international politics these days because it depresses me, butContinue reading “‘We need to see the reset of the UK’s relationship with the EU as a national security issue’”

The very low turnout at Queen Edith’s Nightingale Pavilion earlier was disappointing, but perhaps inevitable in the face of a fragmented city with no widely-read/used single point of civic information sharing. Before I start, a quick reminder of the remaining public consultation events (and two of my own) in this post Part of the contextContinue reading “Do the public know there’s a public consultation on the future of Cambridge?”

…amongst other things in a published report that really should have been published as a written ministerial statement to Parliament by the Minister for Water You can see the publications list by the water regulator OfWat here. Note the two items published 12 January 2026 mentioning: Note Anglian Water have been opposing large planning applicationsContinue reading “Chatteris reservoir delayed due to lack of detail on how to fill it with water”

You can see the list from the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service here I’ve also organised two public events in Cambridge: For convenience, I’ve listed the remaining ones below: Above – I’ve also put in bold the events within Cambridge’s city boundary More big maps Above – turns out the GCSP Service also created aContinue reading “Final fortnight of public events on Cambridge’s Future – the draft local plan 2024-45”

*I like big maps and I cannot lie, you other brothers can’t deny…* But when the only place the public can find it is tucked away in the Cambridgeshire Collection, I wonder why councillors did not insist that copies were distributed and pinned up in community centres and public transport hubs. (You should be ableContinue reading “Greater Cambridge Shared Planning produces huge A0 Map of Cambridge 2045”

That also means getting rid of academies and the multi-academy trusts, and moving away from inflexible systems of commissioning and contract management. Before I start – quick note about new workshops scheduled. Image from the Trials of Democracy This is the position of the National Education Union, the largest teaching union in the country andContinue reading “If ministers are serious about devolution, they will put schools back under local government oversight”

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 whatContinue reading “Greater Cambridge Local Plan drawing and Lego competition for Under-18s”