Category Archives: Uncategorized

Comments by Ian Sandison of the Cambridge BID [Business Improvement District] lead to more questions about the future direction of Cambridge You can read his short piece here – also published in the Cambridge Independent this week. Cllr Sam Davies asked if anyone is looking into why this is. Most of the issues I’d normallyContinue reading ““I’m often surprised at how little knowledge of the city centre many Cambridge residents have””

In 1943, members of the Town and Country Planning Association met to debate what towns in England should be like. Arriving recently, I’ve digitised my copy here for you to read. Above – Country towns in the Future England This is of interest to Cambridgeshire because our towns are surrounded by countryside as opposed toContinue reading “Cambridgeshire Towns – did you get what the planners asked for in 1943?”

The recently-elected Joint Administration for Huntingdonshire District Council is asking for ideas – see https://huntingdonshirefutures.net/ What this post examines is Cambridge’s future in relation to Huntingdonshire, and how to ensure one does not impose on the other, but rather that there’s a shared decision that benefits both. “Now! My ideas for your district are…!” …isContinue reading ” The future of Huntingdonshire”

…assuming they have the legal powers to do so. And if not, it should be something ministers should be putting into their planning bill along with measures to enable councils to cover their expenses on running a town planning function so they can match private sector salaries. TL/DR? I’ve refreshed the relevant blogpost and linksContinue reading “Greater Cambridge Planning should require developers to refresh their environmental assessments”

When politicians, statesmen, diplomats and monarchs slept, Europe slid towards catastrophe. Why does it feel depressingly similar today in the face of multiple crises? Marina Hyde got it spot on “It feels ironical that [Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng] was one of the Tory MPs (along with Liz Truss) who once wrote a book claiming that BritishContinue reading “So this is what it must have felt like in that long hot summer of 1914”

And I’m not just talking about recent research, I’m also referring to things produced over a century ago Because history matters. Here’s former Labour minister Arthur Greenwood a decade before he first experienced ministerial office in 1920. Above – The Education of the Citizen, 1920 – for the Adult School Union It’s easy to forgetContinue reading “Where is the holistic approach to adult education and lifelong learning that research recommends?”

If you need a refresher on what the Imagine2027 series was about, see here. It was organised by the Cambridge Commons, part of the Equality Trust, with the events hosted by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, & sponsored by Sookio, who in those days were a small social media and marketing startup, but have beenContinue reading “Five years on from Imagine2027 in Cambridge 2017/18”

Pictured above – ‘Hideous Cambridge’ – what happens when a community (or a city) is not in control of what gets built there. So what are communities in control? This post has a look – from a policy paper a year after I graduated, to a Government White Paper I briefly worked on in myContinue reading “Communities in Control – what a different 18 years makes”

It is happening across multiple policy areas in the face of urgent and growing problems that ministers have been repeatedly warned about over an extended period of time Starting with dentistry. …because the BBC News at Ten lead with it this evening. “Nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK are not accepting newContinue reading “Paralysis at the heart of central government blocking urgent action”

Above – from Cambridge Ahead’s report on how Cambridge’s housing crisis affects young adults. It’s worth reading – see here. A higher national minimum wage and/or Universal Basic Income might go some way to alleviating the costs of living and enabling more people to participate in civic society. Just two of the reasons why thisContinue reading “Ireland’s president’s passionate defence of the Minimum Wage – and Universal Basic Income as well”