Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

The saga of one of Cambridge’s finest town buildings owned by St Catherine’s College fellow Mark Richer was heard before a planning inspector following his appeal against refusal of planning permission by Cambridge City Council You can read the article in the Cambridge News on the appeal hearing here One of the things that reflectsContinue reading “Planning inspector hears Hobson Street Cinema appeal”

I made my way to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus’s Hub on what was the last chance to say something on the proposed new conference centre being planned for the site TL/DR? See the consultation page here “What does the building look like?” Like this below – only I don’t like the way developers hide theirContinue reading “AstraZeneca consultation exposes Cambridge’s broken governance structures. Again.”

Organised by Real Estate Balance, I thought **Bold Move by Bidwells** given the number of controversial developments in/around Cambridge that their clients have instructed them on. Which means representatives of Bidwells often come face-to-face with community groups opposing said planning applications. At the same time, I wanted to get a sense of where the sectorContinue reading “Bidwells hosts debate on balancing growth with community inclusion”

Expect this to be included in Peter Freeman’s plans for the growth of Cambridge even though it is not in the current Cambridge Local Plan 2018-30, nor is it in the emerging local plan’s first proposals First things first, see their proposals here. Second things second, go to their consultation events : “You can findContinue reading “Cambridge Science Park makes a bold bid for growth – on the Greenbelt”

What are the alternatives to London as destinations for Cambridge spin-outs that grow too big for the university city? (And what opportunities does East West Rail provide?) The Centre for Cities wrote: “University towns like Cambridge shouldn’t always expect their university spin-outs to stay and grow. Having a local innovative ecosystem as a ‘nursery city’ isContinue reading “Could the Centre for Cities look at Bedford and Northampton as landing spots for growing Cambridge firms?”

Being a pioneering timber-framed building does not justify having a spreadsheet-style design of a building at the main gateway of one of the UK’s most historic cities TL/DR? Have your say here If you don’t like spreadsheet architecture, see Humanise here and their call for a new set of principles: “The Humanise Principles are aContinue reading “Kett House developers double down on bland spreadsheet design”

Backed by an international investment group, the site (featured in Katie Green’s piece here) on the north side of the A14 at Bar Hill is just outside the Cambridge Green Belt. But it does not appear in the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018-30 See https://cambridge25.com/ for the consultation – and the map of the siteContinue reading “Speculative business park application at Bar Hill, NW of Cambridge”

Daniel Zeichner MP leaves the Government having held the post of Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food, & Rural Affairs since the general election – having held the shadow post for several years before that. Mr Zeichner confirmed the announcement below. This was part of a wider series of changes that alsoContinue reading “Cambridge gets its MP back following Government reshuffle”

You can respond to the consultation survey here. (The Chief Exec of the county council, Stephen Moir got in touch to say this is not a formal consultation, but rather an informal survey and engagement exercise). Before you do, note Your three choices are here, as Cambridgeshire County Council makes a pitch for incorporating EastContinue reading “Cambridgeshire County Council’s consultation on unitary councils”

See the 03 Sept 2025 edition of the Cambridge Independent. Plus the state of the region reports from the Combined Authority (item 7 here) – read carefully! Above – p4 of this week’s Cambridge Indy. Buy the paper for the full story. If anyone wants to submit a public question to the Combined Authority’s GrowthContinue reading “Anglian Water to oppose all new large planning applications in Cambridge”