Katie Thornburrow – Cambridge City Councillor for Petersfield and Leader of Cambridge City Council

Talking toilets

If you watch yesterday evening’s Look East on BBC iPlayer then there’s a report on the new Silver Street toilets from Mousumi Bakshi where I’m interviewed (it starts at 17:15 if you scroll forward)

It was good to see that the bat box and squat toilets appeared, because I’m very pleased that we have an inclusive space that also supports nature, but I can understand why there’s a focus in the cost, and going from ‘spending a penny’ to spending a pound makes a great headline.

However if we want to keep our toilets clean, safe and well-maintained we have to pay for it. Providing public toilets isn’t a statutory duty for local authorities – though the British Toilets Association has a “Legalise Loos” campaign to change that – and so we have to balance the costs with all the other things the council needs to do.

Some public toilets are free, like those in Lion Yard, and we felt that £1 was a reasonable cost in a place where a lot of visitors to Cambridge are passing. As one person says in the interview, in other European countries paying €1 or €2 for the loo isn’t unusual. We will review the costs regularly.

We are also going to make sure that the signs on the toilet make it a bit clearer that you need to go downstairs, and that the ground floor is the disabled toilet.

You can also read about it on the BBC News website in Phil Shepka’s story or in my blog post from last week. There is also coverage on the City Council website.

A new mural for the Carter Bridge

I’ve just been to see work starting on the new murals being painted on the Carter Bridge which crosses the railway line between Devonshire Road and Sturton Street.

It’s a really exciting project funded by Cambridge City Council and overseen by the Creative Partnerships team within Cultural Services. The murals have been developed by the community arts organisation Art Streets working with the local community through several workshops and other events.

The lead artist on the project, ATMA, is an international mural artist and participation specialist, and between now and the official opening of the murals on August 15 he will be working with a team that includes local volunteers to transform the base and interior of the bridge.

Katie and Iona talking at the base of the bridge while Matt from Art Streets works on the outline of the mural

It was a real pleasure to talk to Iona Hodgson from Art Streets, and to see ATMA’s vision start to take shape on the base of the bridge. I am looking forward to seeing the murals every time I cycle across the bridge or go to the railway station.

More about Art Streets: https://www.artstreets.co.uk/
More about the artist, ATMA: https://www.atma-art.com/

Bats, swifts, bees.. and squat toilets

It’s been an interesting few days. Last Monday I was with the King to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of Cambridge becoming a City, and this Monday I was at the opening of the new public toilets on Silver Street. In between there have been a lot of meetings and calls.

I am really pleased that the refurbished toilets are finally open, because the old toilets here were in a very poor condition and really unsuitable for such a busy site where lots of visitors to Cambridge pass by every day.

Accessibility, safety, and inclusivity sit right at the heart of the new design. We wanted to make sure that everyone felt welcome, so underground we have separate women’s and men’s facilities with a universal toilet situated between them.

Both the women’s and men’s sections feature Cambridge’s first squat toilets in a public loo. They aren’t the only squat toilets in Cambridge, as there are some at Cambridge Central Mosque, but there are a thoughtful step forward in catering to international visitors and local residents alike.

Above ground, a large universal accessible toilet has been provided that also incorporates comprehensive baby-changing facilities. The integrated help points, clear layout, and carefully considered management arrangements will help ensure a welcoming and safe environment for all users.

Cambridge has been a City for 75 years

On Monday July 20th King Charles visited Cambridge and unveiled a plaque to commemorate seventy-five years since we were granted City status. It was a very special occasion, and I was really pleased to be there as Leader of the City Council, accompanied by Cllr Gerri Bird.

The King visited the Cambridge Central Mosque on Mill Road for the unveiling, and it was good too see the press coverage focusing on the building’s eco credentials which heat pumps, solar panels and the collection of spare water from bathroom sinks and rainfall.

It was also an important moment for His Majesty to reaffirm the diversity of Cambridge and our support for those of all faiths and none, at a time when so many people seek to divide us.

The photograph shows me with King Charles, and Julie Spence, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire. It was taken by Shahida Raman.

Read more about the day on the Cambridge City Council website.

Cambridge South: a special station

One of the best things about the new station is that is has been designed to be sustainable, to enhance local biodiversity, and to use modern building materials, working to the BREEAM standards – that’s the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, the world’s leading sustainability assessment and certification method for masterplanning, infrastructure, and buildings.

Hear Katie explain why she thinks the new station is special

And read the government’s press release with more detail. As they say the station is

Designed to blend in with its surroundings, the station integrates with the existing Hobson’s Park nature reserve, helping to protect valuable green space, recreational areas and wildlife habitats.

Its ‘green roof’ includes a wildflower meadow environment and a rainwater catchment system that will store and slowly discharge rainwater back into the environment and the nearby brook, while the station’s overall design and construction efficiencies have reduced the station’s carbon footprint by over 22%.

Welcome to Cambridge South

I was up very early on a Sunday morning to catch the 0631 train from Cambridge, but I wasn’t the only passenger. The train was the very first passenger train to stop at the newly opened Cambridge South station, and I wanted to mark the moment.

It’s a celebration tinged with sadness as we remember those who were killed and injured in the Bedford rail crash, and our thoughts are with all of those affected. So there was no big event here today, just the opportunity to explore our new rail station.

The Secretary of State for Transport granted planning permission in December 2022 and detailed design approvals (such as the specific appearance and layout of the station building) were later approved by the planning authority, so it’s great to see it in operation. I visited it a few months ago when it was almost finished.

And the new station is also the first in the country to have the new Great British Railways branding, marking the Labour government’s work to bring rail back into public ownership.

Katie on the bridge, with the Great British Railways poster

A new leader for Labour, and for the country

The Prime Minister has told the country that he will be leaving office, and now Labour will choose a new leader who will then form a government. The process will start on July 9th when Labour’s National Executive Committee opens nominations, and will be completed before Parliament resumes after its summer recess, in September.

the BBC's coverage of the news on an IPad

This is not a system I would have chosen, as I feel that the country as a whole should be able to make the choice of the person who plays such an important role in our lives. However as things stand there is no need to call a General Election when changing party leader and that person will become Prime Minister as long as they have the support of a majority of the House of Commons. This is the way that several Conservative PMs took office over the last decade, and it is what will happen now.

It may be that the process means there isn’t even an election within the Labour Party, if only one MP comes forward for consideration. This is how both Theresa May and Rishi Sunak became PM.

A lovely day at Strawberry Fair

It was so lovely to be at Strawberry Fair today, and to see so many people having a brilliant time. I really loved the atmosphere, the fabulous variety of food stalls, clothes and cool stuff on offer, and of course the bands. It was great to catch ‘For The Hornets‘ live on the Revolting Stage, as their lead singer Adz Bond has been a friend of mine for twenty years!

Katie at the fair, watching For The Hornets

Strawberry Fair is free to attend because everybody helps with donations, sponsorship, volunteer hours, and word of mouth. Check out their site to see how you can help. It was lovely to see my friend James Youd in his steward’s vest helping with the Revolting Stage today.

The field was really well laid out, and I particularly liked the stone circle. It’s a shame it won’t be there all year round, but I suspect it wouldn’t survive the cows.

It was really great to see Adz Bond, the lead singer of For The Hornets

Honoured to be the new leader of Cambridge City Council

At the City Council AGM on June 1st I was elected as the new leader of council.

These are my notes for a speech.

You can watch the meeting on the City Council YouTube channel and read the Labour Party announcement here. It’s also on the City Council website.

Notes towards a speech

I’d like to start by thanking Cllr Bick and Cllr Bennett, and everyone else who took part in the discussions and negotiations over the last ten days to get us here. I think we are in a good place to go forward together.

And I’d also like to acknowledge the hard work and professionalism of every person who keeps the Council running, from the Chief Executive and other officers, to the whole team here and Mandela House and in offices and depots around the city.

Thank you to those keeping the parks in fantastic condition, and my wonderful team at Shared Planning and 3C Building Control.

Thanks to the the unions supporting so many of our workers, to everyone keeping our buildings and sites running and secure, and to those helping councillors to be as effective as possible as we serve the people of Cambridge.

Looking at the resilience of Cambridge

You may have noticed that things have been a little bit tricky for me at the moment as a failure to reach agreement on the leadership of Cambridge City Council at our AGM on May 21^st means that there are no council committees, no cabinet members, and attendance at external events has largely stopped because we no longer hold formal roles. It should all be resolved when we meet on Monday June 1^st.

While there are lots of meetings and conversations, my diary is strangely empty, because the many briefings, training sessions, committee meetings and other council business has all temporarily gone. But it does leave me free for some of the work I do in addition to being a councillor, around food policy, water scarcity and the climate emergency.

Yesterday I got to see the latest stage of a project that I’ve been involved with for a long time, looking at how resilient Cambridge is in a number of key areas. Resilience Web Cambridge and the Cambridge Room organised a series of seminars and have now published a report on what they found.

The events ran from Wednesday 21 January to Wednesday 8 April 2026 and looked at food, reuse, flooding, energy, communications, community. Each involved a group of experts drawn from local community groups as well as national experts, local councillors and the interested public. They were organised as hybrid meetings.

The report is a vitally important document, but it doesn’t mark the end of the project – because now we follow through what we are reporting on.

There will now be workshops to explore solutions, using the good practices that have been identified by the project to date, and we are considering how to develop resilience toolkits for local residents to use. As Helen Cook and Charlie Barty-King from Resilience Web put it, “resilience isn’t just about bouncing back after disaster, but about transforming how we operate now to anticipate and avoid crises as much as possible, and to make a positive response to a crisis second nature.”

I was really pleased to be able to introduce the report to a packed room at the Glasshouse, and to have the chance to talk to so many people about this important work.

Read more on the Resilience Web website

Download the full report here.

Download the summary as a PDF here.