Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

The Advisory Council has been established and the council leaders represented on the Greater Cambridge Partnership along with the Mayor of the Combined Authority have ex-officio seats You can read the report at item 5 of the S&R Committee here The other two people named are: Interesting pair of people to have in terms ofContinue reading “Cambridge City Council engages with Peter Freeman and the Cambridge Growth Company”

The lack of comment from those firms and institutions supporting the Government’s announcement bringing back the OxCamArc regarding the risks and how to deal with them is striking Some of you may have seen the comments from the opposition leader on South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cllr Heather Williams (Cons) “The Chancellor is in trouble soContinue reading “OxCamArc promoters must be upfront with residents about the risks”

The Chair of the Cambridge Growth Company Peter Freeman invited local councils to send in their ‘wish lists’ of civic and leisure facilities (amongst other things) when I put some questions to him at a recent planning event. Now that the Chancellor has re-launched the OxCamArc, time to take him at his word? Image –Continue reading “Start writing those wish lists of civic and leisure facilities!”

The proposed monster planning application, even when amended, is large enough to cover a significant portion of the cost for this much-needed amenity in one of Cambridgeshire’s most economically deprived neighbourhoods I wrote about a new swimming pool for King’s Hedges back in January 2022 here (Yo! Progress update please?!?) and have been tabling publicContinue reading “Cambridge Science Park’s Fenway development should pay for a new King’s Hedges swimming pool”

With a planning hearing looming for the proposed redevelopment of the Beehive Centre, the public comments (both in support of, and in objection to) are worth a browse. Image – For those of you who want an olden days crash course in town planning I moaned about it here and in a host of otherContinue reading “Beehive Redevelopment by Railpen – hundreds of objections flood in”

Interested parties were sharing the link from the FT throughout today, and understandably quality journalism has to be paid for. But given the significance of the announcement and the number of people affect, why did none of the other news outlets cover it in the same way? Especially the BBC? I sort-of expected the contentContinue reading “OxCamArc is back, and you can read all about it – for a special fee!”

Well if they are going with the tried and tested route of ‘designed-on-a-spreadsheet’ vernacular with a separate piece of abstract modernist sculpture plonked by the building, then expect to be lampooned! Above – CGI of proposed dinosaur-sized monster POO next to building that could have been designed on an Etch-a-sketch in the 1980s See theContinue reading “Land-owning giant celebrates ARM expansion with huge vertical sculpture of freeze-dried dinosaur-size POO”

The Combined Authority’s Education and Skills Committee Chair confirmed that the tight spending rules on the devolved adult education budget means that a very narrow skills focus is all but inevitable – but could they push back for something better? Part of me wonders whether the Cambridge& people should include a story about meaningful devolutionContinue reading “Mayoral candidates need to challenge ministers on lifelong learning”

On a Sunday afternoon – which at least gives people time to read it You can read it here – I picked up on it because if the Government wants to announce something but not make a big deal out of it, it normally puts it in the form of a written ministerial statement lastContinue reading “Ministers launch consultation on streamlining big infrastructure planning”

A social innovation day on Friday 07 Feb 2025 from 10am-5pm You can sign up here It will be interesting to see the demographics of the group that turns up to participate. Not least because anything during the weekday inevitably excludes young people at school/college, and anyone working weekdays during the day. See also theContinue reading “Building a Better Cambridge at The Guildhall”