leaders blog – Katie Thornburrow

A Civic Quarter for the Next Century

This is my Cambridge Independent article this week

(The photograph above shows Sam Dyer, Katie Thornburrow and Gemma Birley outside The Guildhall in 2024 with the Sustainable Food Place Silver award received by Cambridge Sustainable Food Partnership.)

The Civic Quarter sits at the heart of Cambridge. It represents centuries of our collective civic, commercial, and cultural life. The Market Square has been a focus for the city since the Middle Ages, the Guildhall site has been the centre of local democracy for nearly 800 years, and the Corn Exchange has been a cornerstone of entertainment and community gatherings for more than a century and a half.

As a council, we hold all three in trust for the people of Cambridge. I believe we have a duty of stewardship to care for them properly and keep them in public and civic use. We should never consider selling them, but they must be properly maintained. That means investing in renewal and restoration after decades of underinvestment.

Speaking out for unity and tolerance

There was an important march and demonstration in Cambridge on Saturday 17th October calling for equality, solidarity and an inclusive society.

I was really sorry that I couldn’t attend as I was out of the country, but I am grateful to Cllr Sarah Haithcock for reading out my speech at the event.

Notes from Cllr Katie Thornburrow

[I’m sorry I can’t be with you today to express my support in person]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for being here today.

I’m a city councillor, the leader of the council, and a campaigner for food justice and water security. But I’m speaking not just because of my position, but to express my opposition to racism, to stand in solidarity, and to speak out for our wonderful diverse county and city.

I am a woman of colour who arrived in the UK from Hong Kong as an 18-year-old and was welcomed into this community. Having grown up abroad in a colony, coming here showed me that there are special aspects of life in the UK, in Cambridgeshire, and right here in Cambridge that we must hold dear. I built my life here, found friends and support and love, and have always valued the differences and diversity of views, cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs I found. They are what makes us special. They are what makes us stronger.

Cambridge is a place where everyone should be able to make their home. It starts with the values we set: building a caring, supportive society where we look out for one another from our youngest to our oldest, and especially those in need. Those of us in positions of responsibility, whether as teachers, parents, workers, or councillors, have a duty to treat others as we wish to be treated, and to push back against the forces that seek to divide us. We need to use our influence to do good, and not allow division to thrive.

We often quote Jo Cox’s famous words: “We have more in common than that which divides us.” But as we reflect on that message, we must also recognise that having more in common does not mean we are all identical. We are not all the same, and we shouldn’t be. We come from different cultures, have different needs, and hold diverse values and aspirations. We do not have to agree, we do not have to share every point of view, but we absolutely need to be tolerant and understanding.

Our strength comes from embracing our diversity accepting that our differences are precisely what make our community vibrant and resilient. I don’t want us all to be alike; each one of you brings something unique and special to this city.

At a time when division and conflict seem to be everywhere, events like today are a way of offering hope, and that seems vitally important to me. When we stand together, respecting each other’s individuality while united in our common humanity, we build a stronger Cambridge for everyone.

Thank you.

Building a truly integrated transport network for Cambridge

Every month I write an article for the Cambridge Independent which is later published on the Cambridge City Council website as my ‘Leader’s Blog’. In September I picked up on my long-term interest in railways and transport strategy.

If you remember the 1970s British Rail slogan “Let the train take the strain”, you may also recall that carriages were old and rattling and signal boxes were magnificent brick buildings by the side of the track. Things have changed a lot since then and, over the last decade in particular, regional railways have been quietly increasing their capacity and comfort while the network has been transformed by technology.

We can see the difference in Cambridge. Platforms have been lengthened across the network so train operators can run longer trains by adding extra carriages. In some cases they have doubled the length of the train, massively increasing passenger capacity. Alongside these physical changes, we have seen significant improvements to train schedules, steadily boosting the frequency of services connecting Cambridge with surrounding areas. And of course we have two new stations.

These visible changes have been made possible by essential work behind the scenes (read more).