Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Comments from the councillors should be publicised more widely – if only to let residents know more about what building work is happening in our city There were two important debates at The Guildhall earlier this evening for Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee (see the papers here), but sadly few were there to observe onlineContinue reading “What councillors had to say about Cambridge’s house building statistics and on East West Rail”

…possibly in February 2025 according to the Better Beehive Campaign. Time to look at the planning application documents again – all 540 of them! Go to the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service here, Then hover over ‘Search’ -> ‘Planning’ -> ‘Simple Search’ and type in the reference: 23/03204/OUT The text of the application summary reads:Continue reading “Beehive redevelopment’s planning hearing coming up…”

Does anyone know where to start for something that involves all of us? (A bit like the climate emergency? Many of you may have spotted the headlines about the Prime Minister’s speech on all things AI – and this new ‘Opportunities Action Plan’ (which you can read here) which is also published today. The Government’sContinue reading “Who has got time to become an AI and media literate active citizen?”

The Society of Local Council Clerks (or SLCC – because everyone’s an acronym these days) has a number of interesting looking courses on their books. Just don’t expect anyone to be interested when they find out the fees I’m picking on the SLCC as a case study to illustrate the wider malaise in lifelong learningContinue reading “Anyone got four grand spare to learn about local government?”

The Combined Authority has published its papers for their Skills and Employment Committee – and it has lots to say on adult skills. You can read the papers here – the committee also welcomes public questions (you can email them over via here, and an officer will read out your question on your behalf) ThisContinue reading “Cambridgeshire’s lifelong learning offer is still far too narrow”

It didn’t need to be like this but successive governments and councils have cut the libraries and archives service to the bone – to the extent that it can barely provide the bare minimum. Yet some of the Closer to Communities pilots show it’s not all bad news – as young people from Fenland andContinue reading “The Cambridgeshire Libraries Service annual report paints a miserable picture of underfunding”

There are a couple of meetings coming up next week (13th Jan 2025) but with over 170 pages of meeting papers for the one hosted by Cambridgeshire County Council, it can be easy to get lost in the paperwork! Every time I look at any governance structures that involve politicians I find myself singing theContinue reading “Do you know who to put questions to on healthcare services in/around Cambridge?”

I had a brief look at the draft report back in July 2024 (see here), after which it has since been updated and will now be discussed and scrutinised by the Combined Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee next week It was such a monster of a report that I didn’t really pick up much thatContinue reading “Excruciating inequalities revealed in the CPCA State of the Region 2024 Report”

***I want that one!*** (for some of the spare land at the Cambridge Museum of Technology, formerly the sewage pumping station) Cambridge City Council’s Environment & Community Scrutiny Committee – the one that decides who gets what small cash grants and for what, meets on 16 Jan 2025 at The Guildhall – see the meetingContinue reading “A new industrial-themed playground for Cambridge? Could be fun!”

I would like Cambridge to have one sometime in 2025 – perhaps once the mayoral elections are out of the way. The concept is simple: Do what the students do every year, but for ‘town’ (and county too!) And for those of you who want to be even more active (but avoid the politics), seeContinue reading “Cambridge Societies’ Fair – why can’t we have one?”