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Video: 'Save the Great Northern Hotel'
Since Tuesday's front page about the possible plans to demolish the Great Northern Hotel, we have been inundated with messages from angry readers backing a campaign to save the Peterborough landmark. Here are just a few:
Since Tuesday's front page about the possible plans to demolish the Great Northern Hotel, we have been inundated with messages from angry readers backing a campaign to save the Peterborough landmark. Here are just a few:Jane Wilson: "My husband and I celebrated our wedding in 1998 with our reception at the Great Northern Hotel, and in March 2008 we are returning there to mark both 20 years of marriage and our daughter's 18th birthday with around 100 friends and family.
"We would be deeply saddened to see the hotel demolished, not just because of its position in the heritage of Peterborough as a city, but on a personal basis since it is a significant landmark in our own lives."
Bill Hollowell, from Orton Waterville: "If the Great Northern Hotel is to be demolished to make room for yet more hideously unattractive modern buildings and car parking in the vicinity of the railway station that would be an act of crass stupidity.
"It would prove conclusively that not all the lunatics are in the asylum, but are beavering away over their drawing boards, intent on removing another of the city's few remaining architectural jewels for what they laughingly consider to be progress.
"At the end of the day, the final decision will rest with the city council. When it is called upon to consider the plans I hope its officers and members – who claim to have our best interests at heart – will block any proposal that advocates demolition and insist upon a scheme which retains the Great Northern Hotel as the jewel in the crown of that particular part of town."
Gerry Wilding: "Why is it this council and its officers want to destroy everything that is goood about this city? First it was the Brewery Tap and now the Great Northern, both unique in their own way, and replace them with buildings no one wants.
"We have enough empty shops in the city already.
"This is about over-ambitous councillors' egos and their legacy. When M&S anchors North Westgate (because no one else will), the Queensgate store will likely close.
That will be the end for Bridge Street, and as for the so-called South Bank development, it can't get off the drawing board. The station development is about providing travellers with a terminus that works and that doesn't require the knocking down of one of the few remaining railway hotels.
"Have the guts to tell your commercial partners how the people of Peterborough want OUR city developed that means including some of our better buildings in future developments."
Phil Knight, from Netherton: "If the Great Northern Hotel is demolished to 'drive forward growth in Peterborough', then why don't we give Opportunity Peterborough the free hand they obviously want and allow them to demolish the cathedral as well?
"They can then turn the city into what it has aspired to be for so long – a giant, anonymous shopping centre-cum-office block of no interest to outsiders except those purely interested in economic statistics.
"There seems to be a general rule in Peterborough that any establishment that offers character or taste or interest should be demolished, lest it should encourage an outbreak of culture or inward tourism.
"And while we are at it, how about giving us a profile of Opportunity Peterborough, who they are, and what their vision is. Does Steve Compton actually come from Peterborough? Does he live here? If the answer to either of those questions is an unlikely "yes", then he seems remarkably unsentimental about the place.
"It seems Opportunity Peterborough is offering nothing of the sort. No vision, no optimism - just the same old dreary utilitarianism that will ensure the city's continued elevated placement in 'crap towns' polls for decades, perhaps centuries, to come."
Robin Hutchinson, from Deeping St James: "I strongly support owner Peter Boizot's wish to keep the Great Northern Hotel standing. Too much of Peterborough's heritage has already been lost under roads and buildings. This pleasant and historic hotel should stay.
"Development plans for Peterbrough should, in general, retain buildings of character, for instance the Brewery Tap. As well as the need to keep our heritage, there are issues of wasteful energy and mineral use when a building is replaced unnecessarily."
Pauline Goulding, from Eastfield: "Why does the council want to demolish every part of the old Peterborough? I was born where Queensgate has been built, but those houses have been pulled down. That was the start of it.
"Peterborough has changed and it is not for the better. Nothing is the same, I hardly recognise the city I was born in. The PDH has changed from what was a very good hospital.
"Now they want to bulldoze the Great Northen Hotel, the almshouses, these are listed buildings
"What gives the council the right to do as it pleases? It's a case of dont do as I do, do as I tell you. Why can't we have something to remind us of the old Peterborough?
"How long is it going to be before they bulldoze the Brook Street education centre, the school I went to when I was just a young girl?"
Former MP Helen Clark: "I hope that John Peach will move quickly to reassure the people of Peterborough that a 'world-class station' for the city will not come at the expense of The Great Northern Hotel.
"If acting chief executive of Opportunity Peterborough Steve Compton has not been misquoted when he states that 'The development brief assumes that the Great Northern Hotel would go', then I suggest that we really need to consider what Opportunity Peterborough is for – and if such an organisation is best equipped to be charged with the future development of this city.
"Councillor Charles Swift and Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson argue that the hotel should be preserved because it is 'part of Peterborough's heritage as a railway town'.
"Yes – up to a point, but this is certainly not the argument that I would make in its favour and nor is it the strongest.
"The Great Northern is not just a charming relic of long lost days when spinsters bicycled around the city and locals drank warm beer whilst playing cricket.
"Far more significantly, it symbolises everything that is aspirational about Peterborough in the 21st century and its proprietor, Peter Boizot, has spent his whole business life at the leading edge of what is dynamic and forward looking rather than wallowing in misty dreams of the past.
"In addition to his successful national and international ventures such as the Pizza Express group, his vision for Peterborough has been ambitious and modernistic, as encapsulated by the tremendous Broadway Theatre, now such a landmark for the city.
"Railway heritage or not, few would dispute that when he bought the Great Northern Hotel it was sadly in need of a major revamp.
"Over the period of his ownership, the hotel has been completely transformed via a winning combination of timeless elegance and incisive modernity.
"The excellent and traditional dining room is balanced by an exciting modern art gallery, and the Great Northern is the venue of choice for a vast number of functions with a vibrant clientele and a workforce that, in its ethnic diversity, truly represents the Peterborough in which we live now – not the '50s.
"Many different concerns are well aware that if they wish to impress, they will choose to entertain guests at The Great Northern – and this applies to political parties and media concerns as well as businesses.
"Over the past 10 years, the hotel's guestlist has included John Prescott, Anne Widdecombe, Theresa May, Robin Cook, Delia Smith, David Soul and Honor Blackman to mention but some.
In addition, many will remember, Peter Boizot's own generous parties, attended by the likes of George Melly and Acker Bilk. And only three years ago, the hotel played host to Peterborough's first international town-twinning conference.
"Are we really going to drive a bulldozer through all this in the name of a 'world class station'?
"Is this being aspirational about the Peterborough of tomorrow?
"If Steve Compton and his colleagues are determined to destroy what is widely acknowledged as a wonderful advertisement for this city, then Opportunity Peterborough they may be, but they are providing Peterborough with neither opportunity nor aspiration.
"Perhaps they should be shunted as soon as possible into the first available railway siding."
Simon Evans, from Vere Road: "I can only think the proposal to demolish the Great Northern Hotel has been dreamed up by someone who has never lived in Peterborough.
"This building is a vital part of the city's heritage and to propose knocking it down to extend the eyesore of a station would be almost akin to demolishing the cathedral to put up a block of offices.
"Certainly whoever proposed this ridiculous plan should not be allowed any part in determining the future of the city because they clearly don't understand Peterborough or its inhabitants."
Sarah Bailey: "My family and I have shared many happy memories and delicious meals at this grand hotel. Mr Boizot often makes an appearance and is always pleasant and welcoming.
"Staff are friendly, welcoming and attentive. They seem very well trained and standards at the hotel appear high. As for the building itself, it may be Victorian, but surely that is part of its charm?
"Of course we must move with the times in order to progress successfully, but as they say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Peterborough should be making the most of the best of what it has got. This hotel sits at the heart of the city and the gateway."
Jonathan Theobald: "Some time ago a friend and I found ourselves the sole diners in the Great Northern's dining room having arrived shortly before other guests were leaving.
"It was almost 10pm, and I half expected a thin welcome followed by a rushed meal served by staff in a hurry to get home.
"I was wrong. Service could not have been more relaxed or more civilised. A pair of waiters were still cheerfully and professionally looking after us over two hours later.
"The result? They helped us enjoy a superb evening and, though I've dined out in larger cities, I've rarely enjoyed service to compare with that available on my doorstep here in Peterborough.
"So it's hats off to Peter Boizot and his staff. Long may they continue to excel."
Battersea Posh: "How dare the sort of property developers who have introduced the monstrosity that is Queensgate be brass-necked enough to propose demolition of one of the city's few remaining landmarks."
Davina and Dawn Atkinson: "We have very happy memories of the Great Northern Hotel. We moved to Peterborough from London a few years ago and planned to stay at the Great Northern Hotel for a short while, but it was so comfortable that we stayed for over one year commuting to London daily.
"The hotel has been beautifully restored both upstairs and downstairs. How lucky we are to have these great memories at the Great Northern Hotel. It is a unique landmark and should not be demolished.
"They have managed to modernise King's Cross and St Pancras stations without demolishing the Great Northern Hotel building inbetween. The Great Northern Hotel must be saved, it is the old Peterborough."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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