Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

The Council’s has published a draft Cultural Strategy document, which will be debated on 18 January 2024 at The Guildhall – get your questions in! You can read the report at Appendix A of item 8 here. Now, before I tear it to bits comment on it, remember that this is not the final version.Continue reading “Cambridge City Council’s cultural strategy must embed local history & lifelong learning”

But what do you do if someone breaks it, and your means of staying in touch with people without becoming a communications burden on them disappears under a deluge of bots’n’spam? Also, what does it mean for democratic accountability? Especially when changing circumstances (in my case, collapsing health) means your ability to adapt or evenContinue reading ““…when the internet got social, I was an early and enthusiastic adopter…””

Cambridge City Council submits plans for 120 new homes at the junction of Newmarket Road and Barnwell Road – but there are concerns about over-development TL/DR? Read Cait Findlay here Above – a CGI from the planning documents at the foot of the list (See below) From the above-image you can see why there isContinue reading “Planning Application – The future of East Barnwell in Abbey Ward”

The MP for Peterborough wrote to the new Leader of Peterborough City Council, re-stating his issues about the recent change of leadership in the cathedral city You can read the full exchange and the commentary by John Elworthy of the CambsNews here Above – Mr Bristow’s letter to Cllr Farooq, 02 Jan 2024 via CambsNewsContinue reading “MP for Peterborough helps make case for democracy education in the lifelong learning sector”

Cambridge City Council proposes allocating significant funding to give the Guildhall a much-needed overhaul (old buildings eventually need big maintenance programmes – and this one is nearly 90 years old) TL/DR? Please ask your councillors if we can use this as a starting point on revamping our guildhall. Talking of the guildhall, anyone wondering whatContinue reading “Can the ‘Development of the Civic Quarter’ revamp The Guildhall in time for Florence Ada Keynes’ mayoral centenary?”

Why have the architects chosen a grey colour scheme to replace the cladding on what already is an ugly building? TL/DR? See the Planning Portal here and type in the reference: 23/03907/FUL and feel free to comment. Alternatively go to https://www.writetothem.com/ and email your city councillor to make representations on your behalf. I’m a formerContinue reading “Anglia Ruskin’s proposed creative quarter is full of grey. Why?”

Their first meeting is on 09 Jan 2024 and they have two ongoing consultations – but they need to remind the public of who created it – Otherwise it’s left to people like me to carry out this task and that’s not right. Given the lack of public political and democratic literacy, more public sectorContinue reading “Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s Combined Authority 2024”

The barriers installed by the big social media firms seem to have had a particularly big impact this year, as social media streams clogged up with ads’n’spam, with exchanges between actual people fewer and further between I noticed it more than in previous years because for whatever reason, my fatigue symptoms have been stronger ofContinue reading “Big tech’s anti-social Xmas”

Some of you will have noticed some uncomfortable differences between the responses of local government leaders in and around Cambridge, and that of the University of Cambridge. The University of Cambridge responded as per Pro Vice-Chancellor Andy Neely Above: University of Cambridge quoted by Mark Williamson “It is pleasing to see the plans recognise theContinue reading “Why isn’t the University of Cambridge standing shoulder to shoulder with Cambridge City Council over Cambridge2040?”

Kind of a rhetorical question because that involves some basic awareness of the local and social histories of settlements with shorter municipal histories than somewhere like Cambridge – sadly the histories of which can be easily looked down upon and/or dismissed. Some new (to me) old (they were published ***ages ago*** pamphlets arrived earlier whichContinue reading “Have Cambridge’s decision-makers and influencers learnt the lessons from post-war new towns?”