Cllr John Peach's comments come after a barbed editorial in The Guardian on Monday described "Peterborough as another town careless of its inheritance".

Using the example of the 19th century Great Northern Hotel, which has an uncertain future because it will one day form part of the Station Quarter redevelopment, the article went on to say that "without its station and railway line it (Peterborough) would still be a Fenland backwater with a fine cathedral".

Dismissing the editorial, Cllr Peach said: "We do our best to preserve what we have got. In the Peterborough Development Corporation days, buildings were demolished that would probably now be kept, but that is in the past.

"We have recently reviewed conservation areas and I know from my own Park ward that the conservation area has been extended."

Has the city lost too much of its architectural inheritance? Comment below or email eteditor@peterboroughtoday.co.uk
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In terms of the Great Northern, clauses have been inserted into the Station Quarter development brief stating that, where possible, the hotel and its Victorian frontage is preserved.

Meanwhile, for all the growth anticipated in Peterborough over the next 20 years, the city will be built around the ancient heart of the cathedral, the Guildhall and St John's Church.

Chairman of Peterborough Civic Society Peter Lee said: "It is a mixed story with some real success stories in Peterborough and some great disappointments.

"A number of buildings were lost during the Peterborough Development Corporation era, but some have to go when a place grows on that scale.

"Peterborough's problem is that its stock of Victorian buildings is so very thin that what is left must be looked after.

"The council has been successful in maintaining the Great Northern cottages in New England, while there are good examples of private investors looking after buildings in the villages."

Civic society president the Rev Richard Paten, a freeman of the city, added: "A town without old buildings is like a person without a memory."

Earlier this month, former city centre pub Bogart's, in North Street, which dates back to 1837, was saved from demolition by a council planning and environmental protection committee, which refused to grant planning permission.

Committee chairman and former mayor Cllr Marion Todd said: "We don't want to pull down buildings for the sake of it because we want to enhance our city. I know that all the members of the planning committee care about the city and want to do their best for it."

Cllr Todd said the committee had to ensure that the new would blend with the old, such as the proposed North Westgate development, which would retain Westgate Church, Wortley Almshouses and 16-18 Lincoln Road.

Related link: Building blocks article on guardian.co.uk, 16 June 2008
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