Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

It’s things like this that helped persuade me the system of local government in England is broken. It’s one that stops local councils from protecting their civic heritage & local history. “Patriotism is not enough! Only love can save the world!” Above – thus declared the banner at the top of the Romsey Labour ClubContinue reading “Cambridge elections – can we save Romsey Labour Club?”

Back in 2014 when I stood as my former social media avatar Puffles the Dragon Fairy (89 votes, beat UKIP), the manifesto called for an audit of community venues in Cambridge It called for: “A sequenced plan  of action including: “A community mapping exercise – where we collect information on all of the venues andContinue reading “Lack of community venues in residential areas – what the data shows”

A short post on why my candidacy and any publicity materials I put out have to be social media-heavy as opposed to leafleting the entire ward – which inevitably has its drawbacks Today was one of those days where I had to stay in bed until mid-afternoon when I managed to drag my sorry stateContinue reading “Cambridge elections – being a candidate with chronic fatigue”

Because as a teenager in 1990s Cambridge, there was very little going for us. The challenge today is the polarisation of opportunities – particularly comparing private vs state schools with the advertising of the former being much more intrusive and public-facing One of the things that comes with boomeranging back to your childhood home isContinue reading “Cambridge elections – ensuring young people count”

And if we don’t know how it functions, what hope is there for anyone in the think tanks or in Westminster who don’t live the problems that we as residents (and everyone else that makes up our city) live with on a day-to-day basis? “My city [Cambridge] is not particularly typical. It seems to sitContinue reading “Cambridge elections – how can we hope to improve our city if we don’t know how it functions?”

For those of you not aware, my name is on the list of candidates for the Queen Edith’s Ward in Cambridge for the City Council Elections in May 2023. One of the first issues that people are contacting me about is the proposed congestion charge being promoted by the Greater Cambridge Partnership. Inevitable given thatContinue reading “Cambridge Elections – the congestion charge”

And take the Combined Authority with it – replacing our system of local government with two unitary councils based around Cambridge & Peterborough respectively. If you want a headline for my proposals for the Cambridge City Council elections 2023, abolishing the GCP would be it. And I have been following this for a number ofContinue reading “Abolish the Greater Cambridge Partnership”

…unless enough of us can persuade councillors that this would be a bad idea. (And ditto a planning inspector because I’d expect the developers would appeal given the £sums involved) “What do they want to replace it with?” This Above – the proposals at https://www.camcitycentreopportunity.com/the-proposals Don’t like the proposals? Have your say in their surveyContinue reading “Developers confirm Art Deco cinema to be replaced by spreadsheet block…”

‘Travel to work’ maps from the Office for National Statistics reveal how extreme the problem is. Sadly that radical action has not been forthcoming – and it does not look likely in the short to medium term either You can view the ONS Travel to Work Maps here London’s commuter reach extends far and wideContinue reading “Cambridge cannot solve its housing issues until London’s are resolved. And that requires radical action from ministers”

Around 50 of us rocked up to the AGM of the Queen Edith’s Community Forum – one of the wards on the southern edge of Cambridge that has seen rapid growth in more ways than one during my lifetime in and around the neighbourhood. Videos: I was on filming duties for the first gathering sinceContinue reading “Dr Andy Williams [formerly] of AstraZeneca demonstrated Cambridge’s governance structure cannot handle the sci-tech boom”