Category Archives: Uncategorized

On why large plots of land just north of the A14 dual carriageway need to be designated as areas for future parkland, open spaces and nature reserves – and why large green bridges with gentle inclines over the trunk roads need to be built. Some of you may have seen the headlines regarding the MiltonContinue reading ““Where will the children of North Cambridge play now?””

…by persuading the developers to convert it into a shared town/gown community space – and minimising the carbon emissions of the redevelopment/renovation which are generally much higher with comprehensive redevelopment. Many of you will be familiar with the old Art Deco Hobson Street Cinema in the town centre. I wrote about the initial consultation hereContinue reading “Save Cambridge’s Art Deco cinema!”

And who ensures both city and county-level reports are consistent with each other? They’ve kindly listed and summarised them for you all to read. The Cambridge Futures document that it’s in starts on Page 52 in the Agenda Pack for the Strategy & Resources Meeting on Monday 11 Oct. The links themselves are on P67.Continue reading “What are the documents that inform the policies of Cambridge City Council?”

The purpose: to find, select, digitise, publish, and publicise the important, interesting, and useful publications, documents, and articles related to previous local plans and local transport plans. The post-holder could also publicise the existence of the collection (And the Cambridge Library – which was once a city council responsibility), and also encourage donations to theContinue reading “Cambridge City Council should fund a part time post at the Cambridgeshire Collection for the duration of the emerging local plan”

Councillors must insist that the various projects and programmes that will decide the future of our city & county all work together. Because at the moment there is room for improvement. Water and electricity remain major constraints on developments. I bought a map of Cambridge & District recently. Disappointingly I could not find any bookshopsContinue reading ““So, where on this map will our rowing lake, concert hall, and light rail stops go? And how will you stop the lights going out?””

This follows the sad news that the Cambridge Hub’s Social Innovation Programme will not be happening this term. If Cambridge town civic institutions can come up with a co-ordinated offer, the impact that our students could have on the future of our city could be significant – but we have to remove the unnecessary barriersContinue reading “Cambridge town, what is our collective offer to Cambridge & Anglia Ruskin students who want to get involved in civic action?”

How might some of the concepts being promoted by the New Local think tank work for a high growth area like Greater Cambridge? You can read Stephanie Riches thought-provoking blogpost here. This is part of the series on Community Power by the New Local think tank. I spent the last couple of years of myContinue reading ““Allow people to be proud of their place””

The biggest one is time. Time to spend learning, reading, analysing, and debating the issues on their doorstep. But that’s not the only barrier. Cambridge Labour councillors met up with Steve Reed MP, the Shadow Local Government Secretary / Shadow of Michael Gove’s new empire in Brighton (where I lived for three years around theContinue reading “The unspoken barriers politicians must address when talking about empowering communities”

I was invited to comment on Northstowe’s thought-provoking and detailed town strategy by Cllr Sarah Cheung Johnson (Liberal Democrats – Longstanton, Oakington & Northstowe) on a recent thread on recent large housing developments in and around our city. The headline relates to the 2007 document Lessons from Cambourne written by Stephen Platt. This week’s CambridgeContinue reading “Lessons from Cambourne published in 2007 to apply to new developments in Greater Cambridge”