Cambridge City Councillor for Petersfield and Executive Councillor for Planning and Infrastructure
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 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.
As we look forward to the year ahead, the challenges facing us may feel enormous, but as ward councillor for Petersfield and executive for planning and infrastructure on Cambridge City Council, I can promise that I will be working hard with my fellow Labour city councillors, colleagues on Cambridgeshire County Council, our Labour mayor of the Combined Authority, and Labour MP Daniel Zeichner to do everything in our power to deliver our promise of one Cambridge, fair for all.
For me, I’ll be focused on developing the new local plan, dealing with the consultation around the sustainable travel zone, continuing to raise awareness of the need to balance development goals with preservation of the environment and water supply, and dealing with the many issues that come as a ward councillor. But I’m sure that other things will come up.. they always do.
So here’s to 2023 and all that it offers.
We’ve been planting lots of trees around Cambridge, and we want them all to thrive. But in this hot period the ground is dry and they are suffering.
So I’ve started filling old plastic bottles with water and taking them to some of the trees in the area – and it would be great if more people did the same. There are signs on the ones that our tree officers think are most in need.
The great people at Care4Calais are fighting to stop Government plans to forcibly send refugees to Rwanda, a cruel and inhumane policy that I absolutely oppose.
Apart from the many issues around sending people to a country that they have no connection to, anyone sent to Rwanda will no longer be inside the UK asylum system, so if their application for asylum fails in Rwanda they won’t come back here – they will be sent somewhere else by the Rwanda government.
Yesterday I wore my #StopRwanda t-shirt around Cambridge, and I’ll be working with Cambridge Labour to do what we can to get this plan cancelled.
You can buy your t-shirt directly from Care4Calais at
https://shop.care4calais.org/product/stop-rwanda-t-shirt-mens/
Today is a lovely, sunny autumn day, and I had a long walk with a good friend, the wonderful artist and County Councillor Hilary Cox Condron, discussing all things sustainable. Everything from hedgehogs to the emerging local plan, and what we can do as local politicians (or not) and in our own lives too.
Hilary is going to start to make her home more sustainable and I’m going to give some advice, starting with measuring what the footprint is first – actually measuring up the home and using the utility bills – then look at reducing energy 20% every year.
A few years ago I wrote a guide to making homes and buildings more sustainable, and I thought it would be worth sharing with Hilary and anyone else, so I’m publishing it here
Since I became a ward councillor for Petersfield I’ve been getting to know the area again, as it has changed a lot since I last lived here over two decades ago. One of the most obvious changes has been the growth in office buildings, especially around the rail station, and so I’ve made a special effort to talk to developers and builders, and to visit sites where I can.
This morning I was at a new office development on Station Road, and got to see the building from basement to the roof – wearing all the appropriate safety equipment, and carefully following the site manager’s guidance of course.
I wanted to know more about traffic management plans and how the developers/builders used them, to see if there are ways we can improve things.. I also asked about how residents contacted the contractors with issues regarding noise, dust, and deliveries and how they could work to minimise disruption.
This is important because works to demolish buildings and to excavate for basements can be very disruptive for residents. How things are planned and how residents are kept informed can make a big difference.
Some contractors are very good at this – joining residents groups with regular updates, leafleting homes nearby before disruption is expected, responding quickly if residents and businesses asks for quiet periods or extra protection, and we can encourage this best practice
While there I also learned about the recent concrete availability problems, and saw even more evidence of workers moving to EU countries where there is significant demand for their skills. We can’t do much about this at council level but it’s important we understand the wider framework within which development takes place in Petersfield and across Cambridge.
I hope the people I talked to on site appreciate the interest that we take in what they are doing, and that it helps them understand more about the city and about the needs of residents who have to live with the building activity and the buildings themselves.
I was at the Labour Party conference last week, and one of my highlights was hearing our Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves commit to spending the billions of pounds each year we need to manage a just and rapid transition to a zero-carbon society.
I was also impressed that Rachel said that a Labour government would “scrap the current system of business rates and replace it with a fairer way of business taxation – fit for the 21st century.”
How business rates work might seem abstract and unconnected to daily life, but it’s something we are very concerned with on the city council, because it directly affects the amount of money we have to spend (https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/finance-and-business-rates/local-taxation-council-tax-and-business-rates) and directly affects the choices made by the many local businesses that are based here.
Local shops, for example, from the historic centre to shopping centres like the Beehive or Grafton, or the many local shops on Mill Road, are facing the double challenge of coping with Covid-19 and dealing with the growth of online shopping. More shops are empty; many are struggling. We need to find a fairer way for them to contribute.
Other local businesses, found in offices all across the city, are also feeling the pressure. I know how hard it is, as I have my own architecture business. Some, like the IT, biotech and communications companies, have managed to cope or even improve their performance, but the vast majority have faced hard times and need help now.
The city council has helped, with business rates relief on smaller premises, and even offered additional business support grants between November 2020 and May 2021 for those not covered by national schemes. However, because the rateable value of a shop or office is based on an estimate of the open market rental value a property could achieve on a specified date, the high rents in the city mean that business rates are also very high.
That’s why the new policy announced by the Shadow Chancellor matters. As a city council we can do some things to help, and we can encourage people to shop locally, but it takes action by central government – by a Labour government – to make real change happen so that businesses get the support they need and local government gets the funding it needs.
As we revitalise our city and shopping areas, business tax reform is a key way to keep our businesses viable and help new ones open, with decent well-paid jobs for all.
If you’re a small business, the current small business relief and any additional relief is on the website here https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/business-rate-relief-and-exemptions
I had a wonderful time last night on Marmalade Lane celebrating the fantastic produce from Co Farm and the work of Cambridge Sustainable Food, with a vegan feast made by Sam Dyer and Alex Collis with help from a number of volunteers
The plant-based menu used food grown by Cambridge’s first Community Farm, and after the meal we heard from Cofarm, Cambridge Sustainable Food and K1 Co Housing.
Eating outside, wearing masks where necessary, and looking after each other, we all felt safe to enjoy a great community event
Thanks to the wonderful Hilary Cox Condron for the photos- I was having too good a time to take any!
The local elections are on May 6, and the Labour teams are still out around Cambridge talking to residents, delivering our leaflets, and working for your vote. I was delivering in Glenalmond this weekend, and I’ll be out in other parts of Petersfield today.
To find out more about how we’re delivering for communities here Cambridge take a look at our manifesto online at https://cambridgelabour.org.uk/manifesto-2021/
