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Cambridge City Council to Debate Tree Felling Policy
Trees are set to be a major item of discussion at Cambridge City Council’s Full Council meeting later today (Thursday 23rd April 2009). Liberal Democrat ruled Cambridge City Council has recently felled hundreds of trees in the city. Many have been felled for spurious reasons ranging from increasing biodiversity by allowing more light into watercourses, […]
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Missed Opportunity at the Penny Ferry Car-Park
Cambridge City Council is currently refurbishing the riverside car park and adjacent areas in Chesterton at a cost of £62,523; a very large amount of money given what is being done. In the last few days it has become apparent that the “Lead Councillor” for the project, Cllr Liddle, is not happy with what is […]
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Love Cambridge Partnership Fails to Fulfill Promises
As of the 1st of April 2009 the Love Cambridge Partnership took over running City Centre management from the City Council. The primary argument for establishing a new organisation was that private companies would be more willing to contribute funds to an organisation independent from local government and not subject to local government bureaucracy. Love […]
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Horrendous Speeding on Queen Edith’s Way
A recent survey conducted by Cambridgeshire police on Queen Edith’s Way revealed that 32,000 vehicles per week were speeding to a degree which would prompt prosecution. Some were speeding to an extent which would result in them losing their license in one go if they were caught. Other statistics included: Over 75% of vehicles were […]
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A Democratic Decision to Fell Trees on Midsummer Common
I attended Cambridge City Council’s planning committee on Wednesday the 1st of April 2009 where councillors considered the proposed felling of trees on Midsummer Common. The decision to fell was originally taken by officers, however following an objection I made, it was referred to Executive Councillor Julie Smith who in turn decided to seek the […]
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Looking into the Folk Festival Mistakes
On the evening of Monday the 30th of March 2009 Cambridge City Council’s Civic Affairs Committee considered a report into how the council came to lose £644,951 which was not paid to the council by the company it appointed to sell Folk Festival tickets online in 2008. I have written a previous article on the […]
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Holding the Police to Account – March 2009
On Thursday the 19th of March 2009 I attended Cambridge’s North Area committee, where councillors vote on what they believe ought to be the local policing priorities and hold the police to account for their performance in the areas they have prioritised. The police were represented by Sgt. Jason Wragg. Using the opportunity given to […]
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Damming Report on Cambridge Folk Festival Fiasco
The report paints a picture of the City Council as institution in a state of chaos where junior council officers working on the folk festival were free to ignore advice from the council’s finance and legal departments. The key questions of where the city’s money is, and what’s being done to try and get it back have not been tackled. It also isn’t the independent, external, report promised.
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Cambridge Congestion Charge – The Liberal Democrat View as of Thursday 19th March
On Thursday the 19th of March 2009 I watched the leader of the City Council Ian Nimmo-Smith and the Executive Councillor for Climate Change and Growth Sian Read give evidence to the Cambridgeshire Transport Commission. Notable Comments The Liberal Democrat councillors put forward their policy to extend a charge to include the park and ride […]
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Residents’ and Retailers’ Advocates on the Cambridge City Council City Centre Management Partnership
I am writing from Cambridge City Council’s Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee. Using the opportunity for members of the public to ask questions at council meetings I asked who had been appointed to the residents’ representative and independent retailer representative on the new city centre management partnership – “Love Cambridge”. I noted the published timetable […]