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Cambridge And Higher Education Cuts
At three minutes to midnight on Thursday, Cambridge City Council got round to discussing the impact of proposed cuts to university funding on Cambridge. By the time the item, towards the end of their full council agenda, was reached many Liberal Democrat councillors had gone home and even the mayor, who was chairing the meeting […]
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Cambridge Dispersal Zone Renewed and Shrunk Without Discussion
Red – Area of Current Dispersal Zone from 3 Jan 2010 Blue – Area of Previous Dispersal Zone to 3 Jan 2010 Note: East Road itself was excluded from the previous zone. View Via Google Maps On the 18th of January 2010 I attended Cambridge City Council’s Strategy and Resources committee to ask about council […]
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Cambridge Lib Dems Fail to Shortlist Credible Candidate
Despite presiding over mass fellings of healthy trees and substantial folk festival losses Cambridge City Councillor Julie Smith appears to be the best the Liberal Democrats can come up with to stand for election as Cambridge’s MP. On Tuesday the 15th of December 2009 Cambridge Liberal Democrats announced the six person shortlist from which they […]
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Secrecy Surrounding Contract to Sort Cambridge’s Recycling in Peterborough
New blue bins for mixed recycling are to be distributed in Cambridge next month. Details of the city’s contract for dealing with the recycling have not been made public. On the morning of the 6th of October 2009 I attended Cambridge City Council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee. I used the opportunity for members of the public […]
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Pelican Crossing Replacements in Coleridge and Cherry Hinton
Work underway on the pelican crossing in High Street, Cherry Hinton. During the Open Forum section of Cambridge City Council’s East Area Committee on the 3rd of September resident James Woodburn raised the subject of pelican crossing refurbishment in the area. He drew councillors’ attention to the fact that one on Cherry Hinton road had […]
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No Immediate Enforcement Action to be Taken Against Mill Road Tesco
On the 20th of August 2009 I attended a special Cambridge City Council East Area committee meeting which had been called to decide the council’s response to statements by Tesco indicating their intent to ignore planning conditions relating to their Mill Road store. The conditions state that deliveries of goods have to be made from […]
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Highlights from an Audit Meeting: Cambridge City Council Pays its Chief Executive £120,000 and is Still Collecting Poll Tax from Four People
Cambridge City Council’s Chief Executive was paid at least £120,000 in 2008/9. Cambridge City Council’s Civic Affairs Committee met on the 24th of June 2009. The committee is the council’s audit committee, they were reviewing the council’s accounts and audit reports. Often at a council meeting one word will be picked on and over-used by […]
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Cash Injection for More Affordable Housing Prompts Restart of Arbury Park Building Work
Some homes at Arbury Park are very close to the busy A14 dual carriageway. There are proposals both to widen the road and to build homes even closer to it. Building work has restarted at Arbury Park in North Cambridge; this has been prompted by a relaxation of the rules intended to ensure that the […]
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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 […]
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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 […]