Public transport provision will make or break the Cambridge Biomedical Campus

Big questions remain for the organisations supporting the Cambridge Biomedical Campus – and ministers need to clarify what their policies are on the growth of Cambridge I wrote about the housing report the CBC published back in April 2024 here. I won’t repeat what I wrote in there. The meeting I was at earlier wasContinue reading “Public transport provision will make or break the Cambridge Biomedical Campus”

Ed Miliband approves large solar farm on the East Cambs / West Suffolk Border

The newly-appointed Energy Secretary – taking up a former post he had in the last Labour Government, moved quickly to ‘unblock’ a trio of solar farm developments. One of those was the Sunnica Solar Farm on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border. This was a controversial decision given the scale of the proposals as well as the locationContinue reading “Ed Miliband approves large solar farm on the East Cambs / West Suffolk Border”

The system of consultations in Cambridge is broken

Without co-ordination and sequencing of consultations, individual projects will be constrained by circumstances and issues that are both critical to their success yet are outside of their scope Cambridge Civic Quarter In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) see the consultation boards and pages via here. I went to the last of the public events earlierContinue reading “The system of consultations in Cambridge is broken”

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – State of the Region 2024

It’s 1.30am but I’ve only just stumbled across this report while listening into an excruciating press conference by the US President. Only it felt like this was potentially a significant moment in international political history. It remains to be seen what that significance will be. In the meantime… The Combined Authority is back with aContinue reading “Cambridgeshire and Peterborough – State of the Region 2024”

Maintenance, prevention, enforcement – short term measures to improve Cambridge

For all of the planning and consultation going on – too much of which is fragmented and poorly co-ordinated, people need to see that councils and the government are serious about long term improvements if they are to become willing participants in a new era of community action A handful of current and former councillorsContinue reading “Maintenance, prevention, enforcement – short term measures to improve Cambridge”

Could Old Shire Hall become science labs or more student accommodation?

The inevitable outcome of the Cambridgeshire Conservatives’ decision to move the county council out to Alconbury, west of Huntingdon, in the face of over a decade of local government austerity imposed by their party in government. You can see the papers at item 9 here The preferred bidder at the moment is another hotel proposalContinue reading “Could Old Shire Hall become science labs or more student accommodation?”

Mayor Dr Nik Johnson returns from Downing Street

He was interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire by Louise Hulland about what the Prime Minister had said to them – Sir Keir Starmer mentioning growth strategies in his remarks to the media. In the meantime, one of the political allies of Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner has just been appointed a minister at the Department forContinue reading “Mayor Dr Nik Johnson returns from Downing Street”

Consultation: The future of local government for Cambridge

Cambridge City Council launches early survey to find out what you think You can take the survey here – over 100 people have already made their views known. The work stems from a council motion debated and passed on 19th October 2023 at a meeting of the full council of Cambridge City Council. “Accordingly, CouncilContinue reading “Consultation: The future of local government for Cambridge”