‘People feel they aren’t being listened to’ in Cambridge claim
Petition for residents to have say in changing city reaches 2,000 signatures
Last updated 1st Oct 2026
A Cambridge man is calling for residents to have more of a say in the city’s future. Wayne Nightingale, who has lived in Cambridge all his life, said he was walking down Fitzroy Street and was shocked by how the city looks today.
The 65-year-old said: “I couldn’t believe that the pavements were up for people to trip over and thought, ‘how has this happened?’ I was disgusted with what I was seeing, what my own town was looking like.
“When you’re from somewhere – you can see the changes, broken here, boarded up there – I even built part of Cambridge in the building trade.”
The chauffeur driver launched a petition on Change.org calling for residents to have more say in the direction of the city’s development. It calls for a full independent review of the city’s transport policies, planning decisions and major developments and how they will affect its future.
He said: “It’s not a political thing really – people believe they aren’t being listened to.”
Mr Nightingale said he used to park in the Beehive Centre to shop and then walk into town, but these parking spaces will be removed under plans to build offices and labs there. He said he felt not enough has been done to support small independent businesses.
He said: “There’s no enticement to go to Cambridge – we should do more to entice people to come here and spend time here. I used to park in the Beehive, do a bit of shopping, and then walk into town – we pay lots to park in Cambridge but it’s being taken away.”
He said that with similar plans to redevelop the Grafton, the city is losing more and more independent businesses for local people to shop.
Mr Nightingale said Cambridge’s growth – some of the fastest across England in the past two decades – needs to be balanced with the needs of local communities.
He said: “I’m not a councillor, I’m not a politician – but if this is Cambridge, with all these professors here, if this is the best we can do then it’s so bad. I’m just grateful for the people who have supported me and the ones who have pushed me to continue because they are the ones that feel it.”
The petition has gained more than 2,000 signatures at the time of writing and will be debated by Cambridge City Council on Thursday (October 1).
Paul Bristow, mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, met with Mr Nightingale and praised the campaign.
He said: “Wayne is a lifelong Cambridge man who is concerned about the direction of transport, planning and development in the city. He’s calling for greater transparency, accountability and value for money, including challenging the GCP, and I admire the fact he’s got a petition going that’s now received over 2,000 signatures.
“Wayne has put himself out there to ask these questions publicly, which isn’t always an easy thing to do. This is what a healthy local democracy is about, and Wayne, along with all those in support of the petition, deserve to be heard.”
A spokesperson for the GCP said that many of the issues raised in the petition extend beyond their role in improving transport options.
They said: “The Greater Cambridge Partnership is a delivery body with a clearly defined transport remit. Our role is to develop and deliver sustainable transport infrastructure that supports Greater Cambridge’s growth.
“Our schemes are developed in accordance with Government requirements and local transport policies, and public consultation is an integral part of the scheme development process.”