Category Archives: Uncategorized

In the meantime, Cambridgeshire County Council passes its annual budget, while next door in NW Essex, Uttlesford District Council (incl Saffron Walden) is stripped of its planning powers by the Minister for Housing due to its opposition to Stansted Airport’s proposed expansion. The Uttlesford District Council announcement seemed to come out of nowhere: …but asContinue reading “Cambridge to reclassify major roads as GCP unveils major expansion of rural cycling/walking routes around the city”

Council leaders were unable to agree to a new Sustainable Growth Ambition at the last Combined Authority Board Meeting. Should we be concerned? Is the impasse the result of broken structures and systems that should be looking at more radical solutions over a longer period of time? You can read the article in the CambridgeContinue reading “Sustainable Growth Ambitions for Cambridgeshire”

Two articles in the FT caught my eye on Levelling Up. And as one former Downing Street insider once told me in my civil service days regarding newspaper trustworthiness: “Money does not lie to itself”. The articles are sub-headlined: “Reversing decades of regional disparity in the UK will require real devolution of power” by MartinContinue reading “Levelling up? Follow the money, follow the legal powers”

And what is the point of having a county full of Conservative MPs – including former and current ministers, if our spend per head on things like policing and schools remains some of the lowest in England? It was something I noticed at the meeting of the Police & Crime Panel where the Police &Continue reading “Why are Cambridgeshire’s public services chronically underfunded?”

Joint Administration leaders tear into the ‘content-lite’ Levelling Up Plan from the Department of State responsible for Housing & Local Government. You can read both the summaries and the full documents of the Levelling Up Plan here along with the list of 34 headlines from BBC Newsnight’s Lewis Goodall here. “Is this it?!?!” …Asked theContinue reading ““Cambs Slam Levelling-up Plan””

Sorry – wrong company and wrong Millennium. That was Konica, see below. I’ve used the screenshot of the Combined Authority’s Independent Climate Change Report because it’s schemes like these that we’ll see more of and promoted as part of the county’s contribution towards its net zero target. Which is why this one in particular needsContinue reading ““Sunnica, panels are calling me!””

Above – the sign at the Robin Hood Junction from the new Cherry Hinton website.Plus the changing of priorities with the Highway Code in the midst of the chaos in Whitehall. While all of the fun and games in national politics has been happening, Cherry Hinton Village now has its own website – see https://www.cherryhintonvillage.co.uk/Continue reading “£20million for Northstowe (or is it?), a new website for Cherry Hinton, & a Public Inquiry for Cambridge South Station”

And do the meetings where the general public can get involved have such a low media profile? Also the prospect of adding healthcare to the above-diagram is something that intimidates me! This post flows on from my earlier thoughts on doctors’ surgeries and local councils. It also links to my anecdotal evidence on the veryContinue reading “Why are the institutional links between local NHS institutions and local councils so weak?”

The current and new local plans make provision for a number of new civic squares. The ones that have already been built have that corporate anonymous ‘could be anywhere’ look. How can we avoid this for Northstowe, Waterbeach Newtown, Bourn Airport site, Cambridge Airport site, North East Cambridge, and other places that may follow? TheContinue reading “What could new town squares in South Cambridgeshire look like? How can residents influence their design?”

It printed hundreds of paper documents yet only received sixteen responses by paper, and five by email. You can read the paper from officers at the Combined Authority that the Board of local council leaders and the Mayor will be debating at Item 4.1 of the meeting papers here. The appendix is the formal feedbackContinue reading “Why did the Combined Authority’s transport consultation generate so few responses?”