Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Next challenge: filling the venues with people From Friday 08 August there are a number of singing workshops at the Cambridge Corn Exchange as part of the the Big Big Collab in what is our largest civic hall’s 150th anniversary. “Cambridge will be alive “with the sound of music” as part of this one-off specialContinue reading “More big singing events in Cambridge”

I found out the hard way what it looks like when Cambridge’s Accident and Emergency Department at Addenbrooke’s (which actually covers a much greater geographical area) it hit by an unexpected, unseasonal spike in admissions For those of you wondering why I hadn’t blogged for almost a week, it was because I got stuck inContinue reading “The failure to fund Addenbrooke’s A&E service – the buck stops at the Chancellor’s desk”

As Rachel Cunliffe of the New Statesman was told by an MP in her piece on broken systems of accountability in Britain You can read her piece here (and also her Bsky Thread here) which involved a site visit to Shefford, Beds with the local MP for the area, Alistair Strathern (whose constituency is namedContinue reading “Hollowed-out local government can no longer cope”

Be radical or don’t do it at all is the message from the title of their new report Go Big or Go Home: Governing England’s polycentric regions. The policy recommendations are on pages 5/6. The first major proposals for regional government came from Harold Wilson’s Labour Government in the 1960s at a time of significantContinue reading “Re:State propose new English provinces for regional issues”

…stated the WEA [Formerly the Workers’ Educational Association] in response to the community cohesion report: The State of Us. At the same time, the More in Common group published their report: Shattered Britain. What are the risks to community cohesion in our polarised city, and what are the limited policy options for local government? ButContinue reading “*Stronger communities require opportunities to learn and grow together*”

A co-sponsored motion for next week’s full council meeting concludes that of the options available, the existing Greater Cambridge Partnership boundaries (i.e. South Cambridge District *including* Cambridge City Council in the middle) is their preference You can read the meeting papers here “That a unitary authority based on the current boundaries of Cambridge City CouncilContinue reading “Cambridge City Council goes for a Greater Cambridge Unitary on GCP boundaries”

The Sing! Community Choir’s summer concert in Cambridge earlier reflected how community choirs can grow and evolve over an extended period of time It was Katy Roper of the Cambridge Science Centre who recommended I go along to this after we had met at the Cambridge Zero Carbon event (where I think I pleaded withContinue reading “How community choirs grow and evolve over time – Cambridge case studies”

I saw the scale of the work involved retrofitting a standard cottage-type interwar semi-detached property this week. Having to repeat the process for every single property of its type in the city and more, is utterly daunting Cambridge Carbon Footprint has been leading on attempts to encourage people to retrofit their homes to reduce theirContinue reading “We underestimate the retrofitting task ahead at our peril”

Or to give it its full title: The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. And it’s very complicated You can read the Bill documents here, although you will get more sense of what ministers want from it from the explanatory notes. See also the Local Government Association’s briefing here. What the Bill does is putContinue reading “Government publishes Devolution Bill”

Mr Ben Obese-Jecty MP (Cons – Huntingdon) contested the proposed overhaul of local government in Cambridgeshire in a Westminster Hall debate, forcing the Minister for Local Government, Mr Jim McMahon MP (Lab – OIdham West…) to reply for the Government Image – abandoned proposals for a Greater Cambridge Unitary from Redcliffe Maud’s report of 1969Continue reading “MP for Huntingdon claims Cambridge City Council ‘may lose 25% of total resources’ under Government plans”