Category Archives: Uncategorized

Above – you can view past and current copies of CamCycle’s magazine here. Getting a sense of how the organisation (of which I am a member of) is run – and what other local campaigning groups can learn CamCycle – the Cambridge Cycling Campaign, has become one of the most influential organisations on active travelContinue reading “CamCycle’s first in-person meeting in nearly three years”

…given some of the problems that arose at the 2022 festival as highlighted by regular festival-goer Chris Rand You can read Chris Rand’s review of the Cambridge Folk Festival 2022 here. I didn’t go this year for multiple reasons, including health, and not seeing anyone on the line up that made me want to raceContinue reading “What makes for a better Cambridge Folk Festival?”

A nice way to end what has otherwise been an extraordinarily difficult month for many of us – not least with the heatwave. Above – England’s Captain Leah Williamson being interviewed by BBC Sport. If you missed any of it, see the BBC’s coverage and clips here. England’s women went one better than the menContinue reading ““The legacy of this tournament is the change in society” – England’s Captain Leah Williamson after winning WEuro2022 at Wembley”

Interim chief executive Gordon Mitchell seems to have won over the leaders and senior councillors of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s local councils, but he has his work cut out improving the Combined Authority. “From the brief discussions I’ve had with [The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – i.e. Central Government] , they’re content thatContinue reading “Combined Authority Board highlights over-complicated county structures of public services”

It’s a cross-party initiative on Cambridge City Council in response to the Climate Emergency and the Heatwave 2022 – but before these start, the councillors need to run workshops explaining how our city functions. And they need to involve everyone – not just those with the right to vote Seven years ago, I made thisContinue reading “Why Cambridge’s climate resilience forums need democracy-in-action resources to go with them”

Above – this speech wasn’t meant to be like the Redcliffe Maud report on local government in England commissioned by Harold Wilson’s Government. Starmer’s speech hinted that Green Growth will be an electoral front line between the ‘reds’ and the ‘greens’ in the next general election. You can read the transcript of Sir Keir Starmer’sContinue reading “Can Sir Keir Starmer deliver economic growth alongside ‘net zero carbon’?”

The large underspend was questioned by Cambridge’s Liberal Democrat and Green Parties at July’s full council. You can read the papers here – in particular, item 4a on Housing and Revenue Acct “Approve carry forward requests of £22,055,000 in HRA and General Fund Housing capital budgets and associated resources from 2021/22 into 2022/23 and beyondContinue reading “Broken supply chains and skilled worker shortages hit Cambridge City Council’s housing programme”

Above – from a workshop run by Cambridge Carbon Footprint. Following what must have been Cambridge’s second hottest day ever, will we see a sea-change in public opinion on the climate emergency – and on what to do about it? Have your say below! And this one is not the same as 1976 as BBC’sContinue reading “What would “Retrofitting your town/city” courses and workshops be like in practice?”

Only it was something that the UK Climate Risk Assessment of January 2017 said was an urgent action over the following five years. And we are now six months on from that end point and the mega hotwave is about to hit us. I quoted the report in my last-but-one blogpost at the start. “WhatContinue reading “What will your town’s urgent actions involve to reduce the impact of the urban heat island effect?”

…and I’m already asking questions about how prepared we could – and should have been for this. Here’s Prof Emily Shuckburgh of Cambridge Zero at the University of Cambridge, speaking to Channel 4 News earlier. (From 3mins 30secs in) Cambridgeshire County Council has also been putting out messages like the one below: …with further guidanceContinue reading “Bracing ourselves for 41°C hotwave”