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Providing Open Space in the City as Cambridge Grows
Cambridge Liberal Democrats prefer spending money enhancing existing spaces like Jesus Green, rather than requiring developers to provide new green space as the city grows. At Cambridge City Council’s full council meeting on the 22nd of April 2010 the Labour opposition challenged the ruling Liberal Democrats over a message they’ve been putting out during the […]
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City Councillors Protest Publication of Police Strawberry Fair Video
Did Councillors Gag the Local Paper? Update to article 17.00 5 March 2010 The Cambridge News published a video of the 2009 Strawberry Fair which had been presented by the police to a council licensing committee meeting on the 1st of March. Councillors objected to the publication of the video saying that it should not […]
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Electronic Advertising Screens and CCTV in Cambridge Taxis
Cambridge Taxi Cambridge City Council’s standard conditions on “Advertising and Livery on Licensed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles” were amended at a licensing committee meeting on the 25th of January 2010. The item had been placed on the councillors’ agenda following a letter from Alex Sharifi who is promoting a system called Cabcast; a […]
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Cambridge Councillors Ask Police to Tackle Speeding
Police Sergeant Mark Kathro conducting speed checks in the East of Cambridge. I have recently observed councillors at Cambridge City Council’s North, West Central and East Area Committees discuss speeding enforcement with the police. In the North councillors have requested data be collected on speeding on Northfields Avenue and Kings Hedges Road, and have asked […]
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Mill Road Tesco – Application for Alcohol Licence Refused
Cambridge City Councillors rejected Tesco’s application to sell alcohol in their new Mill Road store. City Council rules forbid photography at meetings without permission so this photograph was not taken during the meeting. On the the 17th of August 2009 I observed a Cambridge City Council licensing committee comprising Cllr Benstead, Cllr McGovern and Cllr […]
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Cambridge City Council Decide to Make a Huge Leap Forward In Terms of Openness and Transparency
A buffet was provided for councillors and officers during a break in the meeting. I was hungry so I took up an offer of a sandwich. There were no professional press present. I guess I got the sandwich which would have otherwise been offered to them. (Photos of the meeting itsself were not permitted) I […]
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Asking the Police to Record The Costs of Crime
I am concerned Cambridgeshire Police are not recording the costs of criminal damage like this. During Sgt. Wragg’s update on North Area policing at Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on the 2nd of July 2009 he said he had received no suggestions on ways to improve the police’s regular reports. When he invited me […]
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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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December 2008 – North Area Committee Cambridge
I attended Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on the 11th of December 2008. I made representations to my local councillors, and other members of the committee before the meeting, specifically on Policing North Cambridge. City Cllrs Levy, Upstone and Liddle were absent, as was County Councillor Hughes who it was reported was in Hospital. […]
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Setting Police Priorities for North Cambridge in December 2008
I attended Cambridge City Council’s North Area Committee on the 11th of December 2008. One of the things councillors had on their agenda for this meeting was the setting of the police priorities for North Cambridge for the forthcoming quarter. The policing section of the meeting is run as an open meeting to which members […]