Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

The multiple symptoms are now impossible to avoid. So long as Ministers and in particular The Treasury insist on holding onto the levers of power that might lead to improvements, little will change Image: “Cambridge& – Impossible Stories”. Part of me is like: **I’ll give you an impossible story! ‘Ordinary resident on minimum wage workingContinue reading “Chronically high land and property prices are poisoning our city”

With three major developments next to each other, it will be interesting to see how the final designs compare, contrast, and interact, when they are finally built TL/DR? See the Crown Estates consultation here – you have until 02 July 2025 to send in your views. I went along to the Cambridge Business Park consultationContinue reading “Who will build the best development west of Cambridge North Station?”

…something that I’ve been waiting nearly a decade for – along with everyone else who has been supporting the Cambridge Connect Light Rail proposals Image – Puffles the Dragon Fairy in Haverhill back in April 2014, linking up the town’s rail-reopening campaign with the emerging work on what became the GCP Credit to Daniel FultonContinue reading “Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow says next step for light rail is a feasibility study”

You can read the extended piece here, and it answers some of the issues raised by councillors and residents alike. And for those of you who want to get stuck into the issues, get involved with the Cambs Unitaries Campaign. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s invitation letter is here – the one referred to in the aboveContinue reading “Ministers publish update on unitary council proposals”

I rocked up to the afternoon session of a pair of workshops at the recently-opened Cherry Hinton Hub in South-East Cambridge. While I was the youngest person participating (the morning workshop had a more diverse group age-wise), the united call for the University of Cambridge to bring back a civic lifelong learning function was somethingContinue reading “Cherry Hinton residents demand better from Cambridge University”

And not just because I want to apply for one to try out civics pop-up stalls Basically the city council’s small grant scheme excludes individuals and unless you are a fully-functioning, established constituted organisation with a history of successful delivery, the barriers to applying for anything are prohibitive. “What are micro-grants?” “A ‘micro-grant’ means aContinue reading “Cambridge, can we run some community micro-grants schemes?”

Will it be a ground-breaking splendidly beautiful visionary design, or will it be carbuncle-tastic and enrage His Majesty? Also, the Combined Authority publish videos of some of its events at the big UKREIIF property industry jamboree in Leeds. TL/DR? – See the consultation event on Wed 04 June 2025 in North Cambridge, and see theContinue reading “Crown Estate invites you to see North Cambridge business park masterplan”

Cambridge Labour select their former mayoral candidate Cllr Anna Smith (Lab – Coleridge) as Cambridge City Council’s representative on the Combined Authority Board You can see the meeting papers for: The Combined Authority AGM (which will appoint people to committees) The Combined Authority Board (which follows straight after) …which are on Wed 04 June 2025.Continue reading “First meeting papers for the Combined Authority with Mayor Paul Bristow”

The former Assistant Chief Executive of Cambridge City Council, Andrew Limb, authored a recent study for Cambridge Ahead having spent several decades both in the civil service (where he was burdened with me in my 20s in the bank of desks opposite – poor fellow) and in local government following the 2010 General Election TL/DR?Continue reading “On Cambridge’s inequalities vs innovation”

In an utterly predictable yet highly-depressing move, the owner who has (for what ever reason) let a gem of a civic building in Cambridge become derelict and run down, is appealing to ministers to get Cambridge City Council’s planning refusal overturned. TL/DR: How can you contest the appeal? Go to the planning portal here, clickContinue reading “Developer appeals to ministers to try and get Art Deco cinema demolished”