Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

UDL Being Urban Design Learning who produced a series of videos on some of the recently-built developments on the edge of Cambridge There are very few tickets left for the talk by Mr Freeman of the Cambridge Growth Company on Thurs 15 May at Great St Mary’s What do Cambridge’s new developments look like? YouContinue reading “As Peter Freeman prepares to face Cambridge residents, UDL asks what you can learn from our city”

…as an alternative to allowing employers to recruit from abroad. So where is the big strategy for adult education and lifelong learning that the Commons Education Select Committee recommended back in November 2020? Or was today’s Immigration White Paper a Political response to both the Conservatives and TeamNigel? After all, the Tories got an evenContinue reading “The Prime Minister and Home Secretary talk about investing in the UK’s own workforce…”

They can’t all be taking exams – so why was a warm Saturday night in Cambridge absolutely dead at a time when it should have been buzzing? I went to the Cambridge gig of Oysterband’s farewell tour at The Junction on Saturday night (last night) in what was a sellout gig that also, for theContinue reading “Cambridge Leisure Park was built for young people – so where were they?”

The Cambridge Room opposite Boots in the Grafton Centre will be open from 10am-5pm on 10 May 2025. I start off things with a workshop on democracy. Have a watch of this short reel here The timetable is as follows: 10.30am-12.30pm: Workshop: What Has Democracy Ever Done for Me? Led by Antony Carpen. 12.30-2pm: Badge-makingContinue reading “The Trials of Democracy at The Cambridge Room”

In the meantime, the Cambridge Growth Company has a new website – and has appointed new consultants You can read the CPCA announcement here. Of the six points, the one that stands out for me is: “Pushing an alternative route for East-West rail: The Mayor has written to the East-West Rail Company to propose how aContinue reading “New Mayor of the CPCA promises to get things moving – starting with East West Rail”

As the incoming Mayor for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough said, if he doesn’t work with politicians from other parties, he will fail – and so will they So here in Cambridge we have: Cambridge City Council – Labour Cambridgeshire County Council – Liberal Democrats Mayoralty of the CPCA – Conservative Can they play nicely together? AndContinue reading “The confused Cambridge governance set up – how will it function?”

Former Peterborough MP Paul Bristow wins the Combined Authority for the Conservatives, but his party collapses at the county council elections ***Well wasn’t that a dull and boring election contest?!?*** This is how the county looks. Liberal Democrats – 31 (a working majority of 1) Conservatives – 10 TeamNigel – 10 Labour – 5 TheContinue reading “Five-party politics arrives in Cambridgeshire”

…but will it be enough to keep hold of the mayoralty? I shouldn’t count my chickens and all that but the results won’t be known until 3pm tomorrow. So for those of you wanting reading material before then… …Well, I’m still of the view that it’s too close to call and that the state ofContinue reading “The Deputy PM, Foreign Secretary, and Chancellor all turned out to support Anna Smith on polling day…”

Read the report by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge This follows on from recent work by the RSA on social capital. “In his RSA CEO Lecture 2025, Andy Haldane highlights how weakened social bonds harm communities in our connected world. He calls for a rebuilding of trust and unity,Continue reading “On measuring social and cultural infrastructure”

For those of you who have not decided who to vote for, have a watch of the Resilience Web Hustings If you can help cover the outstanding costs of the event… …please donate via the link here. There is a wider conversation that Cambridge needs to have about organising, hosting, and funding the public debatesContinue reading “NEW VIDEO: Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Mayoral Hustings in Cambridge”