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 [...]
Ian Nimmo-Smith as Mayor of Cambridge (Source)
I observed the latter part of Cambridge City Council’s Full Council meeting on the 26th of May 2011. This was the “annual meeting”, the first of the civic year, and the first for the newly elected councillors. I arrived well after the ceremonial fancy dress session and after [...]
Cambridge City Council’s Mayor and Deputy Mayor Process into the Council Chamber Before the Councillor Allowances Debate
On the 7th of April I observed a Cambridge City Council meeting. Despite many important items being on the agenda, including the future of the NHS and setting the city wide police priorities the item to which most time [...]
On the 15th of November 2010 I attended Cambridge City Council’s Civic Affairs Committee. I used the public speaking slot to let councillors know about my experiences recording council meetings and to ask questions about the fact I have now been banned from filming council meetings.
A member of the public, Andrew Bower, recorded the [...]
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 are [...]
June 2010 North Area Committee.
On Thursday the 10th of June 2010 I attended Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee. The meeting started at 18.30 to consider planning applications but the main agenda was not scheduled to begin until 19.30. When I arrived at just before 19.30 councillors were still debating the first of three planning [...]
The Akeman Street - Stretten Avenue junction. There are bare patches and broken curbs, but £17,750 appears a huge amount to spruce it up.
At Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on the 10th of June 2010 councillors approved the spending of an astonishing £17,750 on plants, and a few new curbs, for Akeman Street in [...]
Photo of room prior to Cambridge City Council Licensing Committee meeting. Photography and audio recording is banned during meetings.
Cambridge City Council is about to launch a consultation on its licensing policy. The police, licensees, premises supervisors, the Campaign for Real Ale, the general public and others will be asked for their views. This morning [...]
The frequency of the Citi 2 Bus to Addenbrooke’s has been reduced; apparently as a result of misguided attempts to tackle climate change.
At the North Area Committee on the 7th of January 2010 Cllr Armstrong reported briefly on a meeting with Andy Campbell, Managing Director of Stagecoach in Cambridge. The reductions in the frequency [...]
On Thursday the 7th of January I attended the North Area Committee, where councillors were considering an application for planning permission to turn the ex car showroom on Chesterton Road into a shop. The Co-Op are proposing to move their shop to the other side of the road. All councillors were in agreement that the [...]
Councillor Armstrong, Councillor Blair, Councillor Boyce, Councillor Levy, Councillor Liddle, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Nimmo-Smith, Councillor Pitt, Councillor Todd-Jones, Councillor Upstone, Councillor Ward, Councillor Benstead, Councillor Blencowe, Councillor Bradnack, Councillor Ellis-Miller, Councillor Hart, Councillor Herbert, Councillor Howell, Councillor Lynn, Councillor Shah, Councillor Smart, Councillor Walker, Councillor Wright, Councillor AlBander, Councillor Baker, Councillor Blackhurst, Councillor Dryden, Councillor McPherson, Councillor Newbold, Councillor Sanders, Councillor Stuart, Councillor Taylor, Councillor Bick, Councillor Cantrill, Councillor Dixon, Councillor Hipkin, Councillor Kightley, Councillor Reid, Councillor Rosenstiel, Councillor Smith, Councillor Zmura.
Jesus Green, Midsummer Common, New Square, Christ's Pieces, Parker's Piece, Coldham's Common, Romsey Rec, Coleridge Rec, Cherry Hinton Rec.