Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

TL/DR: Read the Developer Presentation [32MB file] from the meeting papers here. Then let the developers know your views via their website here. I moaned about this a little in some previous blogposts but felt it needed one of its own to make the point. In the grand scheme of things you don’t need meContinue reading “Details of Grafton Centre science lab proposals show minimal community facilities”

Cllr Sam Davies MBE said it’s all becoming a blur a few weeks ago here. At the GCP joint Assembly/Board earlier today I dropped in to see what was happening and it only convinced me that the way our city is structured is utterly broken. (You can see the meeting papers here) Anyway, here areContinue reading “Struggling to keep up with who is proposing what for Cambridge”

Papers from the Combined Authority show our county needs to ramp up our retraining and re-skilling efforts to deal with what sounds like existing jobs and careers becoming obsolete. Having lived through that transition in the late 1990s, the costs of retraining cannot and should not be left to employees and those unemployed, underemployed, orContinue reading ““Over ten percent of jobs in Cambridgeshire need upskilling to become Green jobs””

At the Academy of Urbanism’s Congress 2023 in Cambridge I was glad that international delegates I spoke to were able to comment on the governance structures of the City of Cambridge – which I’ve described as a city with a globally-recognised name that is run like a market town. I should say Thank you toContinue reading ““Ridiculous” was how some international delegates at the AoU Congress described Cambridge’s governance structures”

Some interesting lessons learnt at the Academy of Urbanism’s congress – and not perhaps the ones I thought after day 1. (For those of you wondering who the town owl is inspired by, look at the clock at the top of the Guildhall overlooking Market Square in Cambridge). I’m a sort of partial attendee, unableContinue reading “How can the people of Cambridge scrutinise how our city is marketed and promoted?”

Emerging proposals from Mission Street for their development on the old Coldham’s Lane Tip and the cement works are missing that all-important rail/light rail transport link [*Updated to add*] -> You can watch the debate about this site by Cambridge City Councillors on East Area Committee here You can see their updated proposals here “AlwaysContinue reading “Project Newton – TSFKA Land South of Coldham’s Lane.”

I think I lost the will to live after hearing the platitudes from the developers of another sci/tech building that only got approved on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate again – this one being on Fulbourn Road just over the city boundary in South Cambridgeshire. I’ve moaned about Cambridge Technology Park before. It was whenContinue reading “A gym and a few yoga classes in every new sci/tech development won’t meet Cambridge’s sports & leisure needs”

TL/DR? Read through all of these (click on the ‘supporting evidence’ tab) [Updated to add: Watch the presentation at The Guildhall of 21 June 2023 here] Back in May 2021 I invited people to read through lots of complicated stuff in this blogpost but I’m not sure anyone took me up on it! Essentially itContinue reading “Cambridge Biomedical Campus – two years on from the publication of their 2050 vision”

Cambridge Matters – the city council’s quarterly magazine has arrived. Yet it is limited by the artificial silos that ministers have placed around local public service providers so cannot provide the ‘state of our city’ report that might be more useful to residents. Above – you can read the digital version here. It’s not aContinue reading “Could Cambridge’s public service organisations produce shared publications?”

I popped up to The Junction to see what the Cambridge Playlaws Project was about. One of their teenage paid staff [Let’s call them Student T] gave me chapter-and-verse on how city and county institutions – and central government have utterly failed our teenagers and young people over man years. TL/DR: All major public serviceContinue reading “How Cambridge & Cambridgeshire under-provide for our teenagers: a case study in multiple and chronic policy failures”