Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

These could be of interest to existing residents beyond the neighbouring wards – especially when it comes to our existing civic and social infrastructure gaps. You can see the timetable below Above – from South Cambridgeshire District Council The ones delivered in partnership with Cambridge City Council are: To get a feel for some ofContinue reading “A new round of community forums covering housing developments on the edge of Cambridge – 2024”

…especially when so many of your tenant and member organisations are struggling to recruit suitably qualified staff to fill vacancies This was the point I put to the representatives of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus following their speeches at the Queen Edith’s Community Forum AGM earlier. (See my previous blogpost) The exclusive institutional culture of theContinue reading “‘You can’t build the biggest employment site in Cambridge and not have a lifelong learning centre on it’”

Three gatherings in two days with a trio of very different groups of people gave me a snapshot of where our city is at – along with its structural weaknesses and our civic potential. One gathering was running a workshop on the relationship between central and local government for the Cambridge University Climate Society, anotherContinue reading “New community event organising in South Cambridge”

What are they, how do they work, and what might they be used for? And what are their drawbacks? (Image: From Brighter Citizens, 1947) Some of you may remember Keith Garrett from Cambridge who has stood at the last three general elections as a candidate in Cambridge for Rebooting Democracy (2015, 2017, 2019 – youContinue reading “‘Labour would introduce citizens’ assemblies’”

Our city goes to the ballot box for the city council elections, and we are joined by the county and the City of Peterborough for the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections on 02 May 2024 – less than three months away “Elections are due to take place in Cambridge on Thursday 2 May 2024. TheContinue reading “General election public events in and around Cambridge for 2024/25”

In my case it’s Cambridge City Council, but elsewhere it might be your borough or district council, or unitary council. Blogpost image – Cambridge ACORN the community union which campaigns on community issues especially rental housing. This post stems from one of the strangest full council budget meetings that I’ve seen for years – interruptedContinue reading “Any housing campaigners want to table this question to their local council?”

Late last year, members of the Cambridge branch of ACORN the Community Union (sort of like a trade union but not based in a specific workplace – and not to be confused with the Community Trade Union) voted to pick improving bus services – and in particular supporting bus franchising, as their campaign for thisContinue reading “ACORN Cambridge’s new campaign for better buses in/around our city”

One of the reasons why I keep on referring to old things from times gone by is that the periods and people I select are times of significant economic and social change. Some of the recent books from the olden days that I’ve digitised include: That’s not to say the contents of the above shouldContinue reading “How do our existing community centres measure up to standards from WW2?”

As Addenbrooke’s declares a critical incident in the run up to the general election, it’s essential that the candidates have open and honest debates with the people about underfunded public services and their future in a growing county I raised the lack of capacity in A&E at Addenbrooke’s before, placing the blame at the feetContinue reading “Accident and Emergency Capacity has to be a general election issue for Southern Cambridgeshire constituencies”

While the Commons is on half term, the House of Lords debated the crisis in town planning. I should declare an interest in this in that both of my brothers are qualified town planners – and I spent part of my time in the civil service working on both housing/planning policy on sustainable new homes,Continue reading “Lords slam ministers over shortage of town planners”