Here’s my Sunday afternoon dispatch from the Labour Conference, where I’ve been to a meeting about the ownership of water companies.
Category: campaigning
Running the Cambridge 10K
I’ve run the Cambridge half-marathon four times – the photo is from 2025, but this year I’m going for the 10K as I wasn’t well enough in the Spring. I’ll admit that I’m partly inspired by the sight of PM Andy Burnham completing the Great North Run but I’m looking forward to seeing my fellow runners again and supporting Muscular Dystrophy UK in their important work.
See you on October 4th – all the details are on the Muscular Dystrophy UK website.
Looking at the cobbles
There’s some concern about the issue of the cobbles in the market square and how they should be treated. I wanted to show you some of the examples of what’s there now, or nearby, and what we’re hoping to do.
In this video you can see the current cobbles and an example of what we propose. And before you ask a ‘sett’ is the name for a rectangular or square cobble stone.
What do you think?
Remembering Jason Arday
This evening there was a vigil to remember Jason Arday, who died on Friday after being hounded by the press and online attackers and was forced to resign his Professorship at Cambridge University.
I am away from Cambridge and couldn’t be there, and I’m grateful to my colleague and friend Councillor Rosy Moore for reading some words on my behalf.
Like every one of my fellow councillors I am shocked and profoundly saddened by the death of Dr Jason Arday. We send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
As a community we will grieve his death and try to learn from what has happened. Nobody should face the pressure Jason was put under, particularly by the excessive, racially-motivated and cruel press coverage. And there are serious questions to answer for the organisations that had a duty of care towards Jason, and whether they did enough to protect him.
We know that much of the coverage was motivated by an attempt to destroy the career of an exceptional black man, and we must not allow those who tormented him to hide behind false protestations of shock or sadness.
Like many of you, I am left wondering what we have lost now that his voice is absent from the academic debate about race and inclusion, and that he will no longer be heard by the Runnymede Trust, the British Sociological Association and the many other places where he brought his insights and expertise. While we grieve Jason’s death today, we also remember and celebrate his legacy.
Thank you
How will we feed ourselves?
Last Wednesday, January 21, the Council Chamber in Cambridge Guildhall was filled with a group of people brought together to consider one of the most important questions facing us today: how do we feed ourselves? They were joined online by others as part of a series of public conversations about the main challenges and opportunities that Cambridge faces under the theme “How Resilient is Cambridge?”
The meeting was convened through a partnership between Cambridge City Council, the Resilience Web (resilienceweb.org.uk) and the Cambridge Room (cambridgeroom.org), and marked the end of a process that started in July 2022 when I made a commitment in a City Council meeting commitment to find a way to “explore the resilience of the city to the climate emergency in a series of open consultations.” I knew that something like this takes planning, organisation and support and I am grateful that the Cambridge Room and Resilience Web were able to provide all three.
It was the first in a series where we will be talking about several aspects of resilience, including flooding, energy, and communications, but I’m pleased that we started with food security because it was thinking about this that led me to become a city councillor in the first place.
Continue reading “How will we feed ourselves?”Working to Improve the Cam
We all care about the Cam and the chalk streams that supply it, and we all know that no plan for the future of Cambridge or the greater Cambridge area can go ahead without some solution to the water crisis that we face – itself just one aspect of the much wider climate crisis.
This is something I’ve been arguing for years, and in 2019 I organised the first major meeting about water in the region. Since then, it has been acknowledged by all the local councils and MPs from every party, and widely reported (as here in the Cambridge Independent).
So it’s a real pity when we see members of one party misrepresent the steps that we are taking as a City Council to do something positive to improve the quality of the Cam, put pressure on the water companies and the Environment Agency to take action, and raise awareness of the importance of our water supply.
Cambridge Needs More Than Content-Free Headlines
The Sunday Times (9 July) has a breathless report that Michael Gove is thinking of building a quarter of a million new homes in Cambridge, in order to turn the city into a ‘tech leader’, and that he will send a planning ‘hit squad’ over to ensure that annoying irritations like ‘eco rules’ don’t get in the way of his brilliant plan.
Apparently this will help to ‘fix England’s housing crisis and unleash growth in the life sciences and technology sectors’.
Let’s ignore for the moment that the chances of Gove still being Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities after next summer are very slim – indeed it is unlikely that his band of failed Tories will be anywhere near ministerial office.
And let’s ignore for the moment that the ‘tightly guarded’ plan, which goes under the mysterious code name ‘Cambridge 2040’ (I wonder what it could be about…) seems to consist of some under-researched aspirations and a briefing to a friendly newspaper in a desperate search for positive headlines.
What would it take to actually deliver such a plan, assuming we wanted it?
Continue reading “Cambridge Needs More Than Content-Free Headlines”Thank you, Petersfield
Thank you to everyone who voted in Petersfield on 4th May. Thanks to the other candidates Emmanuel Carraud, Joshua Morris-Blake and Paul Roper, who also stood in our democratic election for a seat on Cambridge City Council.
I’m grateful to have been returned as your councillor. Thank you for every vote. Thank you for telling me about your lives and issues over the last few weeks. Thanks for listening to me and reading my leaflets.
Continue reading “Thank you, Petersfield”I’m your candidate for Petersfield
I’m pleased to say that the Petersfield ward has chosen me to seek re-election as the city councillor, and I’m standing in the local elections on Thursday May 4.
When I was first elected to Cambridge City Council in 2018 I promised people three things: that I would fight fairly for my arguments and always listen to and work with people from all sides of the political arena; that I’d stay in touch, even when I couldn’t sort a problem; and that I’d be here all year round, not just at election times. I believe I’ve fulfilled these promises, and if re-elected in May I will continue to live up to them.
Within the ward that means representing residents when a much-loved tree was threatened, finding funds for benches, bee banks and hedge replacement, and listening carefully to all sides on controversial issues like Mill Road bridge.
I’ve helped limit the number of builders’ lorries moving through our streets, and even got a major planning application near the station revised because it didn’t allow for walking or cycling.
And I’ve worked across the region to highlight the water crisis, helped develop the emerging local plan, and supported the consultation on the sustainable travel zone.
I hope that you’ll support me on May 4, so that I can continue to work with my fellow councillors for everyone in Petersfield, as Labour delivers One Cambridge Fair for All.
Trees on St Matthew’s Piece
The City Council has received an application to completely remove the three mature plane trees on St Matthew’s Piece opposite 191-193 Sturton Street, an application which I, along with other local councillors and residents groups, oppose. Although the application claims that the trees are causing subsidence and structural damage to the houses, there is no clear evidence that this has happened, and certainly not enough to justify the removal of these important trees, which are an integral part of the local area and much-loved by all of us who use St Matthew’s Piece.
Although they are on land owned by the St Matthew’s (former Howard Mallet) Centre they are covered by tree preservation orders and fall inside the Mill Road conservation area, so they cannot be cut down or pruned without an application to the Council. In fact, this is the second application about these trees. A request to cut 5m from each tree, 22/0271/TTPO, was refused on 1st August 2022 due to lack of evidence that they were causing damage.
Now that the application has been received the council has six weeks to make an assessment. As well as considering if the reason for the proposed works are valid, the council has to assess the trees’ contribution to the visual amenity of the area, and whether the proposed works would adversely affect the appearance of the trees and/or the visual amenity value of the locality.
The technical term ‘visual amenity’ considers how the height, shape, shadows and colours of the trees contrast and complement the streets and surrounding buildings, something especially relevant to mature trees like these in a built-up area. it also covers the ways the trees change through the seasons and how that enhances the area. And it can also include the contribution made by the birds, bats and insects within the trees.
It seems clear to me, and to many others, that the amenity provided by these trees is substantial, especially to the many children and families who enjoy using the space and its playground,. They form part of only three significant open space areas in Petersfield, which is mainly residential streets. They contribute to a green oasis within this urban setting, with significant cooling effects, and are home to a range of birds and bats.
We should also remember that they are part of the history of Cambridge. The land that forms St Matthew’s Piece was bought in 1891-2 because the “provision of open spaces was one of the best provisions they could make, not simply for the health of the town but for the morality of the town” and a resolution for the establishment of a “recreation ground” was passed, in the interests of the 2,000 children in the “immediate neighbourhood” was made. It was opened in 1898, and it needs to be protected so we can continue to benefit from this wonderful area.
Because these trees are so important, I wanted to speak out before the planning committee discusses the application. That means that I will not take part in the discussion and vote, even though I’m a member of the committee, as all members are required to consider applications during the meeting, and making my views known in advance would compromise that.