Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

How Central Government turned local government into the place where major local decisions are made, into an administrative arm of Whitehall. Image – me at the Cambridge 105 studios off Gwydir Street by The Alex Pub You can listen to the Cambridge 105 Election Panel of 28 April 2024 here Scroll through to 36 minutesContinue reading ““You sound like technocrats! Where’s the passion?” Asks Trevor Dann of Cambridge 105 to election candidates”

Comparing two local public events in support of the Cambridge City Council elections I was involved in organising in Queen Edith’s Ward – what I found out. This follows on from my post here which has links to videos and parties standing full slates of candidates We had candidates from all four political parties atContinue reading “Informal ‘Meet the candidates’ events provide a much-needed alternative to traditional election hustings”

This weekend is the first series of ‘Meet the candidates’ drop in sessions that I’ve organised for the Cambridge City Council elections – Polling Day is 2nd of May! But trying to engage with the general public? That’s a very different challenge. We’ve had the two sets of hustings for the Cambridge City Council wardsContinue reading “How do you prepare a local electorate for local elections?”

In the grand scheme of things it was inevitable that planning permission would be granted one way or another. But the fact that councillors complained about the actions of the developer in going straight to appeal rather than working in partnership with an already over-stretched council planning service hardly boosts the reputation of the constructionContinue reading “Controversial developer wins planning appeal. Again.”

Some of you may have heard about the UKREiiF event. Turns out they have a session about the future of Cambridge with keynote speakers not from Cambridge and no representation from the people who actually live in our city. Which is nice of them. If you want to go, you’ll have to stump up overContinue reading “Will the future of Cambridge be decided at a £1,000-a-head property conference in Leeds?”

That’s the easy bit – the hard bit is deciding where the boundaries should be and what powers such an authority should have Some of you may have seen the leaflet: As I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions, history provides some pointers on what things to consider. Above left to right: Abandoned proposals from the Redcliffe-MaudContinue reading “Cambridge Liberal Democrats call for a unitary council for Cambridge”

A reminder just as much as a useful summary for anyone interested in the Cambs Unitaries Campaign. The late James Brokenshire, former Housing Secretary in Theresa May’s minority government made a written statement to Parliament on unitary councils, dated 22 July 2019, here. “What is a written statement? Or rather, what do they mean inContinue reading “What is the Government’s policy on creating new unitary councils?”

You’ve read the manifestos (you have, haven’t you?), now meet your candidates! You can read the manifestos via the links below. …and once you’ve done that, find your candidates at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ and email your questions over to them! Above – from yesterday’s blogpost There are at least two public debates coming up that I know of forContinue reading “Cambridge City Council local elections 2024 – public debates/hustings”

So…what do you think? You can read the manifestos via the links below. …and once you’ve done that, find your candidates at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ and email your questions over to them! More videos of candidates please people! Here are the first two I’ve seen in this campaign in Cambridge. Starting with Coleridge Ward and Cllr TimContinue reading “Cambridge’s political parties publish their local manifestos for 2024”

I’ve moaned about this for years if not more. As Cambridge’s population grows, the pressure for access to large open green space will only grow. And that raises issues of fairness, as one youngster told me last summer at a Cambridge Playlaws event. At what point does unequal access become unsustainable? Above – a fairContinue reading “That’s *a lot of playing field space* that the public cannot access”