Latest news with #CambridgeCityCouncil
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Cambridge council tenant passed 'from pillar to post' over leak
A council tenant said she had been passed from "pillar to post" trying to get a leak fixed in her home. Lisa Stocker said it took six months to get it repaired, despite regularly reporting the issue to Cambridge City half of council homes in Cambridge do not have up-to date surveys on their conditions and carrying them out could cost up to £500,000, say recent reports. The city council said surveys had not been "consistently prioritised" due to a range of factors, but it hoped to clear the backlog within a year. A report at a council cabinet meeting said inspections were needed at about 3,000 of the city's 7,600 council homes. The homes should be surveyed every five years so the authority can plan investment, prioritise repairs, or identify issues such as damp and the leak, Ms Stocker said she had "bad" damp and mould, forcing her to throw away said: "You get passed from pillar to post, just putting it mildly; they don't know who is doing what."They send a surveyor out; he goes round, has a look and that's the last you see of them."Ms Stocker said the issue had sent her stress and anxiety "through the roof", and questioned if she had to wait until the ceiling fell down for a repair. Cheney Payne, a Liberal Democrat city councillor, said it was one in a "sequence of examples of Labour's complete neglect for their council houses"."The council has a duty to act at as well as a private landlord, but for me as a city council it has a moral obligation," she said."These are some of the most vulnerable people in the city who are paying rent for their council home, so they deserve to know they can go back home to a home that is safe and well."Gerri Bird, Labour cabinet member for housing, said the authority had lost two years due to that, she said, people were cautious to let anyone into their the backlog of homes are surveyed, the council intends to check homes every five years."We hope tenants will let us know if they have problems," she added."We are doing our utmost to make sure they have a decent home and that's something I really want and push for because I am in social housing myself, so I understand how tenants feel if they have a problem and it is not done in time." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Historic English cities demand right to impose tourist tax
Bath and Cambridge are urging the government to allow them to introduce tourist taxes, becoming the latest in a string of English destinations seeking similar levies. While Scotland and Wales have granted their councils the ability to tax tourists, at present the UK government has no law giving English local authorities the power to impose visitor levies. In recent months, an increasing number of cities and popular destinations around England have been voicing their eagerness to introduce similar tourist taxes. Bath and Cambridge are among the latest, having joined forces in urging Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to consider passing a visitor levy law in England. The two cities attract hordes of tourists every year, with visitors drawn to Bath's Roman-built baths and Georgian architecture, while Cambridge appeals to visitors with its world-renowned university and pretty city centre. In a letter sent to Ms Rayner, the leaders of Bath & North East Somerset Council and Cambridge City Council state that their 'destination' cities are under growing amounts of pressure when it comes to tourism. They note that the number of visitors is putting local infrastructure under strain and increasing demands on services like waste management. The councils are seeking a roundtable with the government to explore ways that they can support sustainable tourism in their cities, including the introduction of 'a modest visitor levy' with revenue that will benefit both residents and visitors. The cities are keen for a similar structure to that which has been applied in Wales and Scotland, whereby levies would be applied across all types of accommodation, including short-term lets like Airbnb. Councillor Kevin Guy, leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, has called for a 'fairer system' that recognises the costs of playing a role in the national visitor economy. He said that the council should be given the tools to manage tourism 'in a way that reflects local needs and priorities', as well as sustain the quality of the city for visitors. Cameron Holloway, leader of Cambridge City Council, said that while it is proud to welcome so many visitors a year, the 'high numbers of tourists ebbing and flowing through our relatively small medieval city centre can have a serious impact on local people, and can detract from the visitor experience'. 'If tourism in historic cities like ours is to remain sustainable and internationally competitive, we need to be given the means to manage the flow of visitors and to address some of the negative impacts of tourism on local residents, public realm, and infrastructure,' he added. The councils also want to explore other ways that sustainable tourism can be upheld in their heritage destinations, while still being able to enjoy the benefits from the visitor economy. Cambridge and Bath have both followed other destinations seeking the powers to impose a tourist tax. This includes Brent, home of Wembley Stadium, which attracts huge crowds and is keen to reinvest the funds from levies in local infrastructure. Oxford has also floated the idea of introducing a tourist tax through a legal workaround, which would involve setting up an Accommodation Business Improvement District (ABID) that would allow hotels to charge an extra fee to be reinvested in projects in the area.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Threats to Cambridge chalk streams addressed by experts
Threats posed to a city's natural chalk streams are to be addressed by is estimated that 85% of the world's chalk streams are found in the UK, with the majority located in the south of England and East Anglia and, fed by springs in chalk bedrock, provide clean and clear water that supports a huge variety of in Cambridge, including Hobson's Brook and Cherry Hinton Brook are being degraded by a range of factors including water extraction, pollution, the erosion of riverbanks and invasive are gathering later this month at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) to discuss these issues. Chalk streams are rare habitats, often referred to as England's equivalent of water we drink in the East of England comes from rainwater stored deep beneath our feet in natural chalk aquifers, which feed our chalk streams, the Environment Agency said. Chalk streams also need good water quality for different species of fish, plants and insects to flourish. However, they face significant challenges in the 21st Century due to complex problems worsened by climate change and population Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project - a collaboration between Cambridge City Council and ARU - is bringing together experts to study the threats faced by local chalk streams and highlight practical ways to protect them at a free public conference later this Dominic, a research assistant at ARU for the Greater Cambridge Chalk Stream Project, said: "Chalk streams are globally rare freshwater habitats and we're fortunate to have them in and around the city. "However, many of these precious ecosystems are now significantly degraded and at risk."She said the project aimed to further understand habitat loss, biodiversity reduction and water quality issues."By bringing everyone together, including involving local community volunteers, we hope to obtain detailed information about each stream to help inform Cambridge City Council's restoration strategies and safeguard our chalk streams for future generations." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Century-old trees in Cambridge saved for second time
Three trees that have been described as "amongst the most glorious in Cambridge" have for a second time been saved from being chopped City Council has refused to grant permission to fell three London plane trees at St Matthew's application to chop the trees down had been put forward by the insurance company for a residential property in Sturton Street, due to concerns about the trees causing subsidence at the objectors questioned whether they were actually causing ongoing damage to the property and urged councillors not to allow the 125-year-old trees to be cut down. Three previous applications have been made in relation to the three trees in recent told councillors at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday that the latest application to cut down the trees did not provide any additional information about the damage to the officers said they were satisfied from the evidence they had that there was a "causal link between the damage to the building and the trees".Officers explained that if the city council refused permission to cut down the trees it could face a compensation claim and might have to pay for underpinning work to the added that information provided by the applicant claimed the cost of this work had increased from when previous applications were submitted, to £306, said the value of the trees was "undisputed", but that councillors needed to balance this value with the risk of facing a possible compensation claim.A number of objectors came to the meeting to urge the city council not to allow the trees to be cut group Friends of St Matthew's Piece questioned whether the trees were actually causing ongoing damage to the presented councillors with a new structural engineer's report, which they said did not show a link between the trees and cracking in the planning committee agreed unanimously to refuse the application to cut the three trees down. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
25-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cambridge Beehive Centre planning inquiry hears neighbours fears
Concerns about the impact of building "enormous" office blocks and laboratories next to people's homes have been raised as the inquiry into a shopping centre redevelopment scheme proposes to knock down The Beehive Centre, in Coldhams Lane, Cambridge, to make way for new offices and claim high rise buildings will block out daylight for neighbouring homes, although the developer Railpen said the loss of light would be at an "acceptable" City Council opposed the plans, but lost the ability to make a decision after the application was called in by the government's secretary of state for housing, sparking the inquiry. Cafes, restaurants and "flexible community spaces" could also be built, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service. During the five-day inquiry, an inspector will hear from both sides, before making a recommendation to the government, who will have the final statements on Tuesday were made by the council's legal representatives and developer, while concerns from the public, councillors and city groups were also heard. Rupert Warren KC, representing Railpen, said the proposals offered a "transformational redevelopment", turning the Beehive site from a "low-density, car-intensive retail park" into a "high-quality local centre, workplace, and innovation cluster".The inquiry heard how the new buildings could range in height from three to seven Warren explained there was "no dispute" between the developer and the council on the principle of redevelopment, but the disagreement was about taller buildings blocking daylight for nearby recognised there would be an impact, but said the developer believed it would be at an acceptable level. Height fears Josef Cannon KC, representing the council, highlighted the application had been called in by the government minister "just minutes before the committee was due to consider it".He said the local authority would have rejected the plans based on the daylight issue as well as the impact buildings could have on the views from neighbouring Cannon said if offices and laboratories were built to the maximum heights, the loss of light was a "substantial departure" from "acceptable" added while the developer had also put forward an illustrative scheme that set out some lower building heights, the permission requested was for the taller maximum Leonard, representing the developer, said the difference in heights between the two plans was needed to allow flexibility. Councillor Katie Porrer said the proposed heights could have a "permanent, irrevocable, and damaging" Ball, from Better Beehive Cambridge, a community group set up in response to the redevelopment, said it would have an "unacceptable harm to the amenity" of its neighbours."An alternative development with mixed use, including housing, would have genuine and local community benefits and be more appropriate," he said.A member of the public, Martin Lucas-Smith, also suggested it would have been better to include housing as there was a shortage in the city, and another "fundamental issue" was the potential loss of shops. Heritage impact Sarah Nicholas, of the Cambridge Past, Present and Future group, said the charity also believed a mixed-use development including housing would be better. She wanted the inspector to consider any impact on heritage buildings Nicholas said council evidence showed there would be enough office and laboratory space to meet future inquiry should finish next week, after which inspector Jonathan Bore, a chartered town planner, will make his recommendation to the government. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
