The good news: The Government is proposing to devolve some powers, giving Cambridgeshire and Peterborough control over funding for new housing, transport and other infrastructure. The bad news: in return, they are demanding we have an elected mayor. Unlike ceremonial mayors, elected mayors take executive decisions. The government’s plan is for an elected mayor to […]

People living in or travelling through Wort’s Causeway may have noticed the fields on each side being dug up. The previously tranquil meadows are now pitted with trenches and orange netting, as well as a jolly blue loo on the western side of the road. This is part of an archaeological survey, being carried out at […]

Last week, the Tory-led Cambridgeshire County Council Cabinet voted to start putting together a business case for developing housing on Wort’s Causeway. The County owns 8.5 hectares of land to the south of Wort’s Causeway, known in the Local Plan consultation as GB2, GB1 being a slightly smaller parcel of land to the north. I […]

By law, local authorities must set a Local Plan for their areas, stipulating what kind of development can take place where. It covers employment and leisure facilities as well as housing, so it very much determines where people live and work and how they get about. It is the master document against which individual planning […]

Queen Edith’s residents will remember the public concern two years ago, when Punch Taverns, the owners of the old Queen Edith wanted to knock the building down and replace it with housing. As councillors we supported the strong local opposition to getting rid of a pub, and we argued that the pub was an important […]

The latest motion to appear from the Cambridge Labour Group alarms me greatly. They are raising concerns about shared houses, and call for a report on limiting the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Labour wants to widen the HMO term to include homes with lodgers as well as shared houses of young single people (though whether […]

Campaigning local councillor Amanda Taylor to stand again for Queen Edith’s.

Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau and has 16 touch screen kiosks giving advice on a range of issues, including housing, employment, debt and benefits. The kiosks make it easier for people to get advice, by providing it where people are, and in a variety of languages. Nine of them are earmarked for Cambridge City, funded by […]