Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

See the blogpost by the Better Beehive Campaign here. Furthermore, the Combined Authority really need to approach ministers for additional powers and funding to get the Cambridge-Newmarket line upgraded for new railway stations at Coldham’s Lane Bridge, Cherry Hinton Lakes, and Fulbourn. I have written numerous articles since I first became aware of redevelopment proposalsContinue reading “Residents near the Beehive Centre, Cambridge ask for **your help** to scrutinise revamped application”

As the closest institution to a ‘Civic University’ for our city (it’s rooted in the pre-ARU/APU/AHEI days as CCAT / The Tech), there’s a huge potential civic leadership role for Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge – one that Cambridge University as an institution could never fulfil because of the competing financial interests of itself andContinue reading “Can Anglia Ruskin create the public, democratic spaces for people to shape the future of Cambridge?”

A new report from the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge highlights land value capture – and also refers to Gothenburg’s plan for the future You can read: “In a new Bennett Institute report, Thomas Aubrey critiques the government’s reliance on private finance initiatives (PFIs) for infrastructure development and recommends a more integrated approachContinue reading “Who is paying for the expansion of Cambridge – and what are the catches?”

You can read the refreshed document here – the context being the general election of July 2024 (and some of the recent policy announcements since then) The first thing to pick up in the refreshed document is the ‘refresh’ section “What constitutes a successful place in terms of urban design has evolved rapidly in theContinue reading “Cambridge Biomedical Campus 2050 vision – the summer 2024 refresh”

Once the final sets of devolution deals are completed, ministers should commission a major evaluation project to see if they are functioning as intended – and if they are not, whether the policy response needs only minor changes or an overhaul of governance nationwide This follows the publication by the Institute for Government of aContinue reading “I’m still not convinced by Combined Authorities for England”

The Chair of the New Towns Task Force said some things on the radio which worried a few of us given the intro into the news item! It wasn’t a formal statement of government policy, rather a short soundbite that actually didn’t add anything new. But things like this can set the political cat amongstContinue reading “The Government needs to get much better at managing expectations on the future of Cambridge”

Several of you have asked me to pick up on the recent Greater Cambridge Assembly Meeting – noting my position is that the GCP should be abolished (and to get Cambridge Connect Light Rail built) “As Assembly members, your roll is to scrutinise and question the proposals presented to you. In your report, why isContinue reading “Cambridge to Haverhill Rail vs CSET busway (let’s face it, it’s a road) again”

It’s very rare for a local council to commission a formal legal opinion from a senior barrister, but that it what they did prior to approving this controversial application which I last wrote about a few weeks ago here TL/DR? See BBC Cambridgeshire here, and see https://cherryhintoninnovation.co.uk/ by the developer For those of you whoContinue reading “Sci-tech park on old Cambridge landfill site gets go-ahead after council commissions formal legal opinion”

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust sends out another high-demand warning as the Greater Cambridge Planning Service publishes an independent report on demand for sci-tech space. Image – get involved with Together Culture if you’re interested in the future of our city – as one of the sci-tech sites is The Grafton in The Kite TL/DR?Continue reading “Addenbrooke’s Accident and Emergency under strain as new report assesses Cambridge’s sci-tech bubble”

I’ve been buying cheapo old books on buildings and things again…while being house-bound with chronic fatigue and post-exertional malaise. (No, I don’t know why I stayed up until 02.30am to finish this when I started it before midnight!) It might seem strange to follow a post that featured one of the most famous brutalist structuresContinue reading “More on building design through the words from a previous age”