Set up at a cost of £300,000 plus, the centre is intended to act as a 'nursery' for start up environment-based companies. It offers 13 offices for companies of between one and five people, and a number of hot desks that can be hired by the day.

The centre also provides office services, advice and encouragement for its companies and acts as a focal point for environmental events. I

t is expected the centre will keep operating for about two or three years after which its facilities will be moved out to the Green Quarter.

The Green Quarter
A state-of-the-art six storey building towering above Peterborough railway station will be the focal point for the planned £50 million Green Quarter development, which will seek to bring together many of the city's 340 existing environmental businesses. It is expected the prestigious Green Quarter will create about 2,500 jobs. It would take in an area of land stretching from the Royal Mail site between Mayor's Walk and Station Road.

The scheme would also include another 40,000sq ft building that would be set aside as a eco-friendly supermarket. Heat from the supermarket's huge refrigerator and cooling systems would be harnessed for the offices. A second phase could involve the creation of another office block with plans to extend the Green Quarter towards Midland Road where the site of Peterborough District Hospital is also earmarked for development.

Read more from our feature:
Future Peterborough: Regeneration special in association with Opportunity Peterborough - peterboroughtoday.co.uk/futurepeterborough.
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Station Quarter
One of the gateways to Peterborough, it will be given a facelift under multi-million pound plans to create a high quality entrance to the city. Network Rail has agreed to put £1.3 million into the pot to transform the railway station and the surrounding area into a vibrant gateway to the city.

It could include the Green Quarter along with high quality public open spaces and a landmark building. There would also be a parking space for several hundred cars. Network Rail's plans for the site include a new platform and with a new entrance built to the west side of the station, new waiting rooms, a footbridge and extra storage space for bicycles plus an extra 1,000 car parking spaces.


South Bank
A vital component of Peterborough's environment vision is reducing the impact the way people live has on natural resources and this includes the homes in which they live. And plans to build 450 eco-friendly homes on a plot of land at South Bank in Peterborough, are a key step in this direction.

National regeneration agency English Partnerships is hoping to find a developer which can ensure the homes, which are earmarked for a seven hectare site are carbon neutral.

This will mean each property is expected to return to the National Grid as much power as it uses over a year. Each building should also use as little water and energy as possible and this may mean the homes being powered by alternative energy sources.

Walls could be super-insulated to prevent heat loss, and windows tripled glazed, while rain water could be collected in a tank to supply washing machines and toilets. The aim is for the new estate to be the first step on the road to the South Bank becoming a vibrant riverside community with conference and leisure facilities, a quayside, restaurants and new bars.