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Cambridge City Council Environment Scrutiny June 2011
TV Screens Reminded Those Attending Which Meeting They Were At I observed Cambridge City Council’s Environment Scrutiny committee on the 21st of June 2011. Rubbish This was the first scrutiny committee for Cllr Swanson in her new post as Executive Councillor for bins. The committee looked at how the budget for her area, formally titled, […]
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Cambridgeshire County Council Not Building Their Own WhatDoTheyKnow
On Thursday the 19th of May 2011 I visited Cambridgeshire County Council’s offices with Kings Hedges councillor Andy Pellew. Cllr Pellew had heard that the council were developing their own version of mySociety’s freedom of information website, WhatDoTheyKnow.com and on asking what was going on had been offered a meeting with the relevant officers. Cllr […]
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Cambridge City Council Standards Committee June 2011
I observed a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s standards committee on the evening of Wednesday the 15th of June 2011. The committee is a mixture of appointed individuals and elected councillors. The first thing the committee did was elect a chair and vice chair. The chair had to be elected from the appointees. The committee […]
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Hike in Cambridge On Street Parking Charges
The Guest Road area is to see the largest increase in residents parking permit charges I have just returned from observing a meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council’s cabinet where the decision was taken to increase Cambridge’s on street parking charges. The cabinet approved raising the annual charge for residents parking permits from around £40-50 to […]
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EEDA Cambridge Cluster Report
Cambridge’s Economic Roles The East of England Development Agency has published a report titled: Cambridge Cluster at 50 on the Cambridge economy. The focus is on the “Cambridge Phenomenon” – mainly the universities, high tech firms but also considering other key aspects such as the city centre and tourism. The report looks to the future […]
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Meeting Carrie Herbert of the Red Balloon Learner Centre Group
On Monday the 13th of June 2011 I met Carrie Herbert, founder and chief executive of the Red Balloon Learner Centre Group. Red Balloon learner centres are places where children can obtain an education instead of in schools. Fundraising for the centres focuses on their role in providing children who’ve been bullied at schools a […]
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Cambridge City Council Complaints Report 2010-11
Cambridge City Council has published a draft of its annual complaints report in advance of a meeting of the council’s standards committee on Wednesday the 15th of June. I think the report fails to fulfil its role of enabling councillors to check the council’s complaints system is working. The key problem is that the definition […]
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Cambridge Eco Homes 2011 Launch
Eco Homes in Cambridge are Open on the 18th and 26th of June 2011 On the evening of Friday the 10th of June 2011 I attended the Cambridge Eco Homes launch event in St Luke’s Church Centre on Victoria Road in Cambridge. Cambridge Eco Homes is an event run by Cambridge Carbon Footprint. They organise […]
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Strawberry Fair 2011 – Better But Still Marred by Drugs and Drunkenness
Remote Control Horse at the 2011 Strawberry Fair Cambridge’s establishment, including the city council, the Executive Councillor for Arts and Recreation Rodrick Cantrill, and the police have all declared the 2011 Strawberry Fair an unequivocal success and this line appears to have been unquestioningly parroted by the city’s press. I agree that there were many […]
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Elderly Woman Stopped from Swimming at Parkside
Parkside Pools apparently has strict rules on goggles.(Img Source) Earlier today (Monday the 6th of June 2011) I was swimming at Parkside Pools in Cambridge. I witnessed something I thought was outrageous: the pool’s manager, named as “Ryan Thorpe”, got an elderly lady to leave the water and escorted her out of the pool area. […]