Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

At the third time of trying… The guidance from the Local Government Association applies. It answers: These look similar to the seven consultation criteria from Cabinet Office published back in 2008 below: See also the shorter document but longer list of criteria from Cabinet Office from 2018 here On their own, if institutions can manageContinue reading “Make responding to Cambridgeshire’s consultations easier through standardising & co-ordination (Part 3 of 3)”

The background is in Part 1 here …and started as a result of this: The case Mr Elworthy of the CambsNews refers to is on Broad Street, in the Fenland town of March, Cambridgeshire. (If anyone wants to go on the March march in March (or from March to Cambridge), this annual event for 2023Continue reading “Make responding to Cambridgeshire’s consultations easier through standardising & co-ordination (Part 2 of 3)”

It was at nearly 2am that I wrote this because someone was wrong in politics or something – but I must mention that Cambridge City Council has its own online consultation portal here. Have you signed up and filled out your response to the one on putting residents at the heart of the conversation? …andContinue reading “Make responding to Cambridgeshire’s consultations easier through standardising & co-ordination (Part 1)”

This stems from a new unworkable policy that ramps up the rhetoric against migrants under the political cover of trying to deal with the curse of human trafficking. Despite the promotion of Debate Not Hate in the run up to the local elections in 2 months time. The lectern slogan with the flag in theContinue reading “UK politics reaches a point where it can no longer rely on old, outdated assumptions & stereotypes”

…said the Centre for Cities in 2019, and supported by Priced Out in 2023 here, in response to the Government’s consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. Sounds reasonable in principle, but what are the risks and how can they be mitigated against? (Image is of Dullingham Station with an 800m radius circled around it,Continue reading ““Release for development land within 800 metres of any stations which have a service of 45 minutes or less to a major city””

Above – next month the candidate lists will be released – you can find them on https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/ (hence the big tick logo above, which is theirs) You only have to look at the proposals for development sites in the emerging local plan 2031-40 for Greater Cambridge (combined with the chronic water shortage, the sewage scandalContinue reading “Why Cambridge and East Cambridgeshire election candidates must talk to residents about our broken system of local government”

A new book by Professor Mariana Mazzucato and political economist Rosie Collington (currently researching for a Ph.D under Professor Mazzucato’s supervision) promises to be a long-overdue study into the ‘corporate consultantsocracy’ that has drained the budgets of public services for too long. And I write the above as someone who has been one of thoseContinue reading ““It’s time to invest in the collective intelligence of the public sector, and end the consulting con once and for all.””

Protests and marches on social justice issues are often the subject of astroturfing and hijacking by paper-selling far left groups, and have been for decades. The anti-congestion charge protests in Cambridge – backed by local Conservative politicians – found itself on the receiving end of the same tactics by different groups. That does not meanContinue reading “The attempts to astroturf the anti-congestion charge protests won’t make the local issues go away – there’s a long road ahead.”

And not just that. It reflects the complete breakdown of the functioning of our city and wider surrounding districts, from civic culture, governance structures, vision, and political leadership in both local and national government. A new Government must follow the recommendations of several House of Commons Select Committees so we can overhaul our obsolete institutionsContinue reading “The cancelling of The Big Weekend represents a collective failure of Cambridge’s wealthy business sectors to support our city”

The Cambridge Arts Network had its annual conference today (22 Feb 2023). For the short time I was able to be there, I was struck by how the dots between local government and national arts organisations with ministerial access needed to be connected. The joys of chronic fatigue meant it was always going to beContinue reading “Why the Arts and Culture sector needs to lobby ministers to support local councils”