Tag: Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor Cambridge on volunteering to help the police

“We’ve got volunteers doing all sorts of things in Cambridgeshire Police. We’ve got people looking at CCTV in Ely, we’ve got people monitoring ANPR. We’ve got the SpeedWatch volunteers and the people who use speed guns and prompt people to be sent warning letters. We’ve got all sorts of volunteers.”

09:24 Tuesday 1st December 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Do you fancy becoming Cambridgeshire’s next big detective? Well our county’s police force could be about to make your dream come true. Cambridgeshire Police have placed adverts for a couple of jobs that it wants members of the public to fill. The first job is for a volunteer detective to find stolen property, whilst the second role is to wash it’s patrol cars at Cambridge police station. Seriously though, is this the future? Is this .. as budgets continue to be stretched, is this the future? Should we do more to patrol our own communities? Are you helping? Have you helped the police? Is this Cameron’s Big Society in action here? Citizens on Patrol. Should there be a People of Peterborough Police Force or a Cambridge Residents Constabulary? Well Richard Taylor is a political blogger from Cambridge and has put this story online and well many many people have commented already Richard. Morning.
RICHARD TAYLOR: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: So Citizens on Patrol. We’re all doing our bit Richard. What a good thing that is. Big Society.
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Cambridge bloggers on Election 2015

17:13 Monday 5th January 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: So in case you hadn’t noticed, there is a General Election coming up this year. The campaign, well it’s been a slow-burner until now, but it’s beginning to produce more than a few sparks. Let’s find out what we think is going to be in prospect locally from two leading Cambridgeshire bloggers on politics, Richard Taylor .. hello Richard.
RICHARD TAYLOR: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: .. and Antony Carpen, known to many as Puffles. Hello Antony.
ANTONY CARPEN: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So gentlemen, how much do you think there will be Cambridgeshire issues in this election campaign? Richard first.
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Richard Taylor – the right to report

08:07 Wednesday 6th August 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: A change in the law will bring local politics into the 21st century. That’s according to Eric Pickles. The Local Government Secretary assigned a Parliamentary Order allowing the press and public to film and digitally report from all public council meetings. It’s hoped this right to report will bring an end to some councils’ resistance to allow filming, blogging and tweeting during meetings. Well earlier the Leader of Hunts District Council Jason Ablewhite gave his reaction to the news.
(TAPE)
JASON ABLEWHITE: We welcome these changes as a council, although we amended our constitution over a year ago now to allow filming, to allow tweeting, and to bring our council well into the 21st century, ahead of this new legislation.
PAUL STAINTON: Does it mean now that all councils have to allow it, without having consultations or anything else?
JASON ABLEWHITE: I think they should. At the end of the day local democracy, local councils, should be able to be transparent, if people want to come along. We live in a whole new era now, where people tweet, social media pages. Most councillors now, regardless of age, have a social media page. Lots tweet on a regular basis to get out to a wider audience, and to glean views. And I think it’s only right that we move into the 21st century and allow this sort of thing to happen.
PAUL STAINTON: One political blogger though from Cambridge once had a bit of trouble filming a district council meeting in Huntingdonshire, didn’t he? Is that a thing of the past then?
JASON ABLEWHITE: (LAUGHS) He certainly did, and I fully support the actions of the Chairman at the time, because it was totally unprecedented for somebody to turn up at a council meeting, plonk a tripod in the middle of the floor and start filming the proceedings. There was nothing in our constitution to allow it. And as a result of that we had debate about it, we had round discussion about whether it was appropriate, and we decided then, well in advance of this legislation, that actually we’ve got to move into the 21st century, and actually this is part and parcel of the modern day.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: That was Jason Ablewhite from Hunts District Council talking to me earlier. Well the blogger he was talking about, who set up his tripod and his camera, was Richard Taylor. He’s a citizen journalist who’s reported from council meetings right across Cambridgeshire, and come up against I think it’s fair to say a bit of resistance Richard.
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Peterborough Council resists online access to public meetings.

07:07 Thursday 24th July 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: So the big question this morning: how do we get you more interested in local politics? Or is it just boring and you feel you’ve got no say and you can never be interested? Well in the last few years we’ve had the fallout from the MPs expenses scandal, Russell Brand urging people to abandon modern-day politics, and an increase in people using local elections to just send a message to Westminster. In some areas of the county like Hampton in Peterborough, only a 24% turnout at the last election. One councillor in Peterborough thinks he’s got the answer to all this. He thinks council meetings should be streamed online. It’s something that Cambridgeshire County Council have just started doing. Well Cllr. Darren Fower put forward the idea at the Full Council meeting last night. Darren, good morning.
DARREN FOWER: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: And what was the response?
DARREN FOWER: I suppose the simple response, the term would be negative, narrow-minded, short-sighted. Yes, they didn’t really go with it.
PAUL STAINTON: Oh. Right. So they thought it was a bad idea. Why did they say they didn’t want people wanting council meetings?
DARREN FOWER: It’s not necessarily a new concept. The Liberal Democrats have been putting this forward for at least six or seven years. About five years ago my colleague Cllr. Sandford, he put forward a motion that was actually accepted, to look at a similar sort of set-up. And surprise, surprise, five years later nothing’s happened. We got told that they were thinking about the idea, but the bottom line is the people of Peterborough, they deserve to see how things actually work within the chamber. And my belief is if it was streamed live, you might find that there’s a different result when it comes to local elections.
PAUL STAINTON: You think it might open people’s eyes a little bit as to what goes on and how people behave.
DARREN FOWER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Again last night we had some very narrow-minded views and comments. We know that times are tough, but the bottom-line is they spend so much money on generating bits of paper, and the people of Peterborough should be entitled, or have at least have the opportunity to log on, watch and dare I say even vote on certain things that are being discussed. And then if they decide to leave they can. But yes, I’m afraid I personally think that we’ve still got a city council that doesn’t want people to see the truth, and they prefer to try and control the news that comes out of Town Hall.
PAUL STAINTON: Or is it just the fact that they’re not very photogenic.
DARREN FOWER: (LAUGHS) Well I for one have never been photogenic, so that’s not a factor that I take into account.
PAUL STAINTON: Well I’ll back you up there.
DARREN FOWER: I know you will. But it is one of those things whereby even from the news point of view, from journalists, from the work that you guys do, you’re coming into our county, you need to be able to access. In today’s modern world, it is 2014 after all, and you should be able to go somewhere now, and people who are waking up this morning, getting ready to go to work, should be able to either listen into something, or go somewhere and see actually what really happened. Because unfortunately we have a city council that does generate minutes, but surprise surprise some things are often omitted.
PAUL STAINTON: Would it be interesting though? Wouldn’t people be bored? Some of it’s dull as ditch water, isn’t it?
DARREN FOWER: Yes, and there is that political strategy that does occur whereby techniques are used to either dismiss people that are being discussed .. but the bottom line is the City Council has a very very important job. It’s there to represent the people of Peterborough. And quite simply if the people of Peterborough want to tune in and see what’s being said, as I say, even if it’s just for fifteen, twenty minutes, it doesn’t have to be the three hours, they should be entitled to.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. Richard Taylor is with us as well. He’s an activist. He films and promotes local politics in Cambridge. You’ve tried to film meetings in the past. You’ve got yourself in a bit of hot water from time to time as well, haven’t you?
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Lewis Herbert on the Challenges Facing Labour on Cambridge City Council

10:18 Thursday 17th July 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[A]NDIE HARPER: How long have you been in the city? I’ve been here twenty seven years, and I have seen dramatic changes over that time as you might expect of a period of that long. But what about you?
LEWIS HERBERT: Twenty four years. I came to Cambridge out of choice. It was on a shortlist of three or four places I wanted to live in. I’d been living in New Zealand. I’d been a councillor in London, and I was an expert on recycling, so I took on the job of going from nothing to about 40% recycling at the County Council, working closely with the city. And one of the things I did then was actually to work with the different councils to create the partnerships, and actually make sure that we were all doing it together. So twenty four years. It is a special city. It looked truly magical on the day of the Tour de France, and it does have major challenges. But I think at heart what I’m hearing from people is we’ve got something so precious and so special that we build on what we’ve got.
ANDIE HARPER: Now at the time that you were elected you described Cambridge as a tale of two cities, and that part of your master plan really was to close the gap between the rich and the poor. And John in a way, he’s texted this morning, and he’s really hit the nail on the head, because he says “Question for the Labour Leader. Chesterton is often overlooked, as things done in the city centre get all the money and all the headlines. For instance, we have on-pavement parking plus bikes. We walk in fear. What will they do and no flannel.” Now he mentions specific issues there, but it does encapsulate really I think the point you were making. It is undoubtedly a tale of two cities.
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Lewis Herbert – New Leader of Cambridge City Council

08:07 Wednesday 4th June 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Two weeks ago now Cambridge saw Red for the first time in eighteen years. The City Council one of Ed Miliband’s gains at the local elections, there weren’t many. And today the new Labour Leader of the Council Lewis Herbert has unveiled his Masterplan for the city. Describing Cambridge’s fate as a tale of two cities, Labour has decided to wage a war on poverty, in a bid to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Lewis Herbert is with us now. Morning Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Just describe to us how you see Cambridge then.
LEWIS HERBERT: Well it’s a hugely prosperous city with great opportunities, and councils have to play their part, particularly in delivering more affordable housing and addressing congestion. Because we effectively are already gridlocked too often. But underlying that we’ve got wider issues that there are areas of the city that have been neglected, and we really do have disparity. Just to give you one statistic, the life expectancy in the poorest, or the least affluent parts of the city for men is 8.7 years lower, 10.5 years lower for women. So we have a disparity, and it’s part of the City Council’s job to share that prosperity, and ensure that we’re tackling some of the problems, including in the North and the East of the city, where we also have neglected environments.
PAUL STAINTON: So what are you going to do? Direct money to those problems and those communities?
LEWIS HERBERT: What we’re going to do is we get income from growth. We get a New Homes Bonus, some of which we need to spend on the growing areas, and people will see the rate of new housing in Trumpington or in the North West of the city. And we’ll use a lot of that to help growth, but we’ll also share that, and some of the income from extra business rates, and use that money effectively to tackle some of the issues in areas that have been neglected. A lot of the expenditure on improved community facilities and better transport is being directed solely at the areas of the city that have been growing.
PAUL STAINTON: I’m looking down the list of commitments that you’ve got here though, and it’s extensive isn’t it? It goes on and on and on and on. How are you going to afford it all? Continue reading “Lewis Herbert – New Leader of Cambridge City Council”

Victory For Cambridge Blogger As Pickles Rules On Filming Council Meetings

17:39 Thursday 31st October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Another blow for openness and transparency in public life has been struck, following a campaign led by a Cambridgeshire activist. People who want to film and report on council meetings will have new rights, allowing them to do so. The Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has just announced that a new law will be put before Parliament. He had been lobbied by the Cambridge based journalist who’s with me in the studio now, Richard Taylor. Hi Richard.
RICHARD TAYLOR: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Last time you were in here, you had, not exactly stormed, but you tried to film I think it was the Huntingdonshire ..
RICHARD TAYLOR: Yes it was Huntingdon District Council. Because Eric Pickles had said that we could just go along to council meetings and film them. He’d given guidance and asked councillors to open their doors to people like me who want to film, tweet, photograph and blog from council meetings.
CHRIS MANN: And when you went there they obviously hadn’t had the message from Mr Pickles, because they threw you out. (LAUGHS)
RICHARD TAYLOR: That’s right. It seems like the Minister Eric Pickles now has got fed up with local councillors not considering his guidance, and not doing what he wants, and he’s decided to go ahead and pass a law.
CHRIS MANN: You’ve actually had hostility at meetings, and they’ve prevented you filming.
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Richard Taylor On Open Democracy

17:23 Friday 28th June 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Should council meetings be recorded and filmed? Well the local Government Secretary Eric Pickles thinks so, and he told people recently. But when a Cambridgeshire man tried to follow his guidance and film in a meeting at Huntingdon District Council, he was threatened with arrest. Thirty three year old journalist and campaigner Richard Taylor, who is from Cambridge, joins me in the studio now. Richard, hello.
RICHARD TAYLOR: Good afternoon Chris.
CHRIS MANN: So Eric Pickles told you personally? Continue reading “Richard Taylor On Open Democracy”