Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

Wandering down the northern section of Hills Road earlier today, the grey scene didn’t inspire. And that was just the buildings from previous generations! I was going to write something about how art seems to be excluded from architecture, replaced by a system where bland blocks of buildings have controversial and/or abstract sculptures plonked inContinue reading “Debating the future of building in Cambridge”

Another tall building for the city – although this one sits outside Cambridge’s 1935-era boundary so will be decided by South Cambridgeshire District Council. The application raises ongoing questions about local government’s ability to govern their cities and districts. It’s on 14 Feb 2024 and you can view the meeting papers here. In particular itemContinue reading “New hotel/apart hotel for North Cambridge at Orchard Park”

I was reminded of this in a social media stream but had not explored the data until now. Note there are inevitably some quirks and bugs – such as routing the Cambridge-Kings Cross routes down the Liverpool Street route to London, but the scale of Cambridge-London rail journeys amongst other things makes for interesting consideration.Continue reading “What does Cambridge Railway Station’s passenger data tell us about future new lines and stations?”

…subject to a series of conditions attached to that planning permission – you can read the news report in the Cambridge Independent here. You can also browse the website of the developer and new owners here. Again, this blogpost comes with a cautionary note for you, the reader, to make sure you are aware ofContinue reading “Grafton Centre to become new sci-tech centre as councillors grant planning permission”

Experts recommend Cambridge City Council Planning Committee rejects the proposal from RailPEN and consultants over concerns on over-development of the site, as campaigners call for a ‘Better Beehive’. Back in August 2023 I invited people to scrutinise in detail the proposals to redevelop The Beehive Centre / Graveyard of the Cambridge & District Co-operative SocietyContinue reading “Beehive Centre Redevelopment slammed by Greater Cambridge Design Panel”

The site is much larger than it looks from Cherry Hinton Road I went back to the original planning application (via the planning portal here, ref 20/04705/FUL) to get some screengrabs of the proposals as they were of May 2021 …and they look something like the above Today I dragged my P-E-M-burdened head out ofContinue reading “Old Swiss Laundry ready to open after revamp”

The responsibility for the fate of Shire Hall on Castle Hill resides at the ironically-named Conservative Party – both the county and national parties. See the press release from Cambridgeshire County Council here TL/DR? You can: Some of you may have seen the headline. Unfortunate timing given the interview with city councillor Thornburrow who isContinue reading “How can Cambridge call for the creation of one civic quarter while another civic quarter is sold off?”

…says Prof John Denham to Jess Studdert of New Local – the former being the last Labour Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. You can read their report here Alternatively, you can watch their video discussion here “What is ‘Total Place’?” As I wrote recently: “Essentially Total Place was a concept – oneContinue reading “‘It’s time for Total Place 2.0’”

Turns out the opportunities the pamphlet issued by the Ministry of Education turned out to be far more than just the subjects – something today’s senior politicians might reflect on. You can browse through the pamphlet here – it arrived earlier. The Minister for Education at the time was Ellen Wilkinson – the first womanContinue reading “What Clement Attlee’s Government can teach us about colleges and their civic setting in towns & cities”

Cambridge City Council’s Planning Committee to decide on the new future for the Grafton Centre on 07 Feb 2024 at The Guildhall, Cambridge You can read the papers here I have moaned about this one for years Past posts have included: Now, this part of town has got one of the most interesting of historiesContinue reading “Decision time for the Grafton Centre”