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North Westgate: 'Developer should leave pub alone'
WITH the promise of shops, restaurants, a new bus station, thousands of car parking spaces and a multiplex cinema, Peterborough has much to gain from the proposed £480 million transformation of North Westgate.
WITH the promise of shops, restaurants, a new bus station, thousands of car parking spaces and a multiplex cinema, Peterborough has much to gain from the proposed 480 million transformation of North Westgate.Politics reporter Jonny Muir examines the impact on Peterborough of new changes to the planned 480 million redevelopment of North Westgate.
Although the scheme will undoubtedly be a shot in the arm for the city's economy and regeneration, the development continues to be tainted by what North Westgate means Peterborough will lose.
According to Queensgate Limited Partnership's scheme, almost everything that lies in a swathe of land bordered by Bright Street, Bourges Boulevard, Lincoln Road and Westgate, will be reduced to rubble.
Only Westgate Church, Wortley Almshouses and the Nacro building in Lincoln Road are earmarked to become part of a new North Westgate.
It means a dozen shops and takeaways in Lincoln Road and Westgate, about 15 homes in Cromwell Road, car parks in Acland Street and Deacon Street, Frobisher House, the boarded up Six Bells pub and, perhaps most significantly, the Brewery Tap, will all be demolished.
Yesterday, Richard Brown, development manager for Hammerson, which is masterminding the scheme with Morley Fund Management, said the pub in its existing form would not be incorporated into North Westgate, offering an olive branch of "possible relocation".
Brewery Tap owner Paul Hook said: "What Peterborough needs is diversity and places of interest like the Brewery Tap. Since a consultation meeting at the Bull Hotel last July, I have had no contact from the developers. There has been no dialogue about relocation."
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Special Report: North Westgate development
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As the pub's owner, Mr Hook naturally has a vested interest in ensuring the long-term future of the Brewery Tap, but he also questioned the wisdom of ignoring the views of the 20,000 people who have signed a "don't scrap the Tap" petition?
Mr Hook added: "The Brewery Tap is an asset for Peterborough and we want the developer to leave it alone."
Long-time Brewery Tap supporter John Fox, city councillor for Werrington North, said: "It will be a sad day if the city loses the Brewery Tap. If it has to come down, the pub must be relocated somewhere else in the city centre."
Spokesman for the Peterborough branch of the Campaign for Real Ale Robert Barnes said: "The Brewery Tap would be a huge loss to Peterborough. It is a landmark building, not to mention a tourist attraction in its own right."
While the battle to save the Brewery Tap has been a very public one, little has been said about the homes, shops and businesses that also face demolition.
When The Evening Telegraph visited Cromwell Road and Lincoln Road yesterday, residents were aware that demolition was a possibility, but said there had been no confirmation from the Queensgate Limited Partnership about its intentions.
However, one resident in Cromwell Road said he didn't "have a clue" about the proposals, while a shop worker complained that he had "heard nothing".
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