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Calls to set up corporation for Peterborough

Shariqua AhmedPeterborough
News imagePeterborough City Council An artist's impression of the new station area, with people walking along a path and sitting on steps, with buildings in the background.Peterborough City Council
The main construction work on Peterborough's Station Quarter is expected to start next year

Leaders called for a new corporation to be set up to help boost the transformation of Peterborough city centre.

Cambridgeshire Mayor Paul Bristow, Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes, and city council leader Shabina Qayyum wrote a joint letter to the government, asking for a mayoral development corporation to be established.

The leaders said the new body could bring a greater pace and long-term certainty to regeneration, housing delivery, and job creation.

Qayyum said: "By establishing a mayoral development corporation, our city will be able to move forward together, cohesively and at pace to transform the future of our city's economy."

News imageSHAUN WHITMORE/BBC Dr Shabina Qayyum, wearing a navy blazer and dark blue top, is looking at the camera and smiling. Behind her, out of focus, is a GP surgery. SHAUN WHITMORE/BBC
Qayyum said "things are on the up" in Peterborough

She added: "This is the right time, and we have the right people around the table to make this happen."

Development corporations are bodies established for urban development, often possessing wide-ranging powers, including land acquisition and infrastructure provision.

Previously, between 1968 and 1998, a development corporation expanded Peterborough considerably.

The leaders added that the new board reaffirms their backing for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Growth Plan, which sets out an ambition to triple the size of the regional economy.

They said Peterborough is ready to be a national example of fast, well-planned growth and regeneration

'Hotbed of growth'

News imageMartin Giles/BBC Mayor Paul Bristow in a blue suit with a blue tie sitting outside and smiling at the cameraMartin Giles/BBC
Conservative Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he wants to build on recent infrastructure investment in the city

Bristow said: "The Local Growth Plan is clear about where we're going, and a development corporation is about how we get there, joining up land, infrastructure, and investment so growth works for communities.

"This is a moment Peterborough should seize. We have alignment, ambition and opportunity."

Pakes said: "Our past proves that when Peterborough gets the investment it deserves, we become a hotbed of industry and growth, and our future deserves nothing less.

"This development corporation is our chance to change that, to turn momentum into action and unlock Peterborough's full potential as a powerhouse of industrial and technical excellence."

News imageMARTIN GILES/BBC Andrew Pakes is smiling and looking at the camera. He is wearing a light blue shirt and navy blazer with a Union flag pin. Behind him is the entrance to Peterborough's railway station.MARTIN GILES/BBC
Labour MP, Andrew Pakes, said the city is an amazing place with a proud history of rolling up its sleeves and getting things done

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