-
Cllrs Ditch Planning Rulebook To Let Applicant Maximise Rental Profits to Pay for Care
1 Greystoke Road, Cambridge On Monday the 5th of March 2012 I observed City Councillors on Cambridge’s South Area committee consider a planning application to divide a property into two, enabling each part to be let separately. This was an interesting case because almost all councillors ditched normal planning practice and made a decision on […]
-
Liberal Democrat Councillors Approve Garden Grabbing in Cherry Hinton
Liberal Democrat councillors have approved building a new bungalow on the site of this tree in a Cambridge back garden At a national level the coalition’s governing document, the programme for Government, states an intent to give “councils new powers to stop ‘garden grabbing’”. Localism is still at the core of the way planning decisions […]
-
Members’ Inquiry into Folk Festival Approved
Cambridge City Council lost almost £650,000 of public money after the company it appointed to run the online ticket sales for the 2008 Folk Festival failed to hand over any money. I have written a number of articles following the council’s attempts to understand what went wrong so that similar disasters can be avoided in […]
-
Following up the Folk Festival Losses – An Update
Cambridge City Council lost £644,951 of public money when the company it contracted to sell folk festival tickets online in 2008 didn’t pass the money it took on to the council. On the 30th of March 2009 the council’s civic affairs committee received the report of an internal review into the loss and asked questions […]
-
Cambridge City Council Election Candidates May 2012
Only Sign of Elections in Arbury – Posters for Labour’s Mike Todd-Jones. Cambridge City Council elections are to be held on Thursday the 3rd of May 2012. Cambridge is split into fourteen wards, there are three council seats for each ward. The elections in May are for one seat in each ward, so a third […]
-
Unbelievable Presentation on Blue Recycling Bins
A third, blue, bin for recyclable waste is due to be introduced to Cambridge shortly. I attended Cambridge City Council’s South Area Committee on the evening of Thursday the 24th of September 2009. One of the items on the agenda was an update and Q&A on Cambridge’s new co-mingled recycling which will involve those who […]
-
PCSOs Lack Powers to Enforce 20mph Limits
Prominent 20 mph signage, and traffic slowing pinch point, in Saffron Walden It was well after midnight when Cambridge City Council’s Full Council, which had started on Thursday the 23rd of February 2011, reached a motion on enforcement of 20mph speed limits in the city. The motion was proposed by Cllr Tim Bick, who is […]
-
South Cambridge Police Priorities – November 2011
South Cambridge Policing Priorities On the 7th of November 2011 I attended Cambridge’s South Area Committee where councillors set the police priorities for the next period of time. Anti-Social Behaviour Definition Police Sergent Jim Stevenson presented the report on behalf of the police. Page six of his report listed incident types classed as anti-social behaviour. […]
-
Cambridge City Council – Full Council July 2011
Cambridge Guildhall (Library Image: These Doors Were Open for Thursday’s Meeting) I observed, and took part in, a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s full council on Thursday the 21st of July 2011. Preliminaries The front doors of the Guildhall were open when I arrived and it was possible to walk straight in. This is a […]