Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

We saw our first anti-road user/congestion charging protest marches in Cambridge today. The pro-Sustainable Transport Zone demonstration takes place on 10 December – in two weeks time. Road user pricing and congestion charging is not new. The Ministry of Transport as was published its report on road pricing in 1964 – you can read itContinue reading “Cambridge divided and ruled on road user charging”

It’s in the Conservative Party’s General Election Manifesto 2019. Which if you see manifesto commitments as sacrosanct, means all those that campaigned on it back every single policy in that manifesto without question, complaint, or quibble. The compromising paragraph is on page 31. (You can find the document in a simple online search). “Through bodiesContinue reading “The OxCam Arc is back – under a different structure. And Ministers own it.”

The new proposals turn much of the site into lab and tech space, and supporting office space – with no room for the proposed hotel that got planning permission pre-Lockdown. You can see the consultation at https://www.graftoncentreconsultation.co.uk/ Above – the first set of proposals. I still think it’s the wrong call. But under the presentContinue reading “New labs for old shops at The Grafton Centre – but what will councillors say?”

Do politicians and regulators understand the social impact of decisions being taken by the tech giants? Do they know how to respond? (In the meantime, I’ve gone to the pre-historic elephant setup @AntonyCarpen@mastodon.green ) This post caught my eye. It’s worth reading the full version here by Mic Wright. The rise and fall of socialContinue reading “Do our political institutions know how to deal with the social fallout of imploding digital media platforms?”

The Autumn Statement by the Chancellor will only increase the risk that we end up with gleaming science labs connected by poorly-maintained pot-holed roads as local history repeats itself with numerous local bodies fighting each other in a woefully inadequate governance structure for a city that ministers claim is the jewel in the economic crownContinue reading “Cambridge is malfunctioning while the county is broken down”

My struggle against this strange phenomenon while burdened with the millstone of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that took over a decade to get a diagnosis for – over which time my city’s population grew by over 20,000 people. I went to Mark Thomas’s latest show in Cambridge in which he basically tore the Tories to pieces.Continue reading “Becoming irrelevant in a rapidly-changing city”

Transport Director Peter Blake and Board Chair Cllr Elissa Meschini (Labour – King’s Hedges, & Deputy Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council) faced nearly an hour of questions submitted by listeners – so many that they have agreed to come back for a second round In an interview that reflects the importance of BBC local radio,Continue reading “Jeremy Sallis of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire cross-examines senior figures from the Greater Cambridge Partnership”

At very short notice, Abbey Ward city councillors Naomi Bennett and Dr Hannah Copley – along with myself threw as many Qs as we possibly could about the principles of what the developers say will be an improved retail offer. I only found out about it this morning. …and furthermore had no information on whereContinue reading “First proposals for the Cambridge Retail Park on Newmarket Road”

The Combined Authority publishes new papers on an eventful day that sees the Mayor Dr Nik Johnson taking an extended leave of absence on medical grounds. I hope Dr Nik Johnson gets better soon – he’s in safe hands at Royal Papworth that operated on me less than a year ago. The message he gaveContinue reading “Light rail freight for Wisbech, and a County bus strategy (in draft).”

Replacing the restaurant area with a new studio theatre form a core part of their new plans The plans are described on the Greater Cambridge Planning Service Planning Portal – both 22/04228/FUL (the main application) and 22/04229/LBC (request for consent to make alterations to a listed building, which the Cambridge Arts Theatre is). “Refurbishment ofContinue reading “Cambridge Arts Theatre’s new plans”