New Peterborough city centre restaurant would open out onto St John's Square

An application has been submitted to Peterborough City Council for change of use of part of the soon-to-be-vacated unit, from retail to cafe/restaurant use, which would see the disused Exchange Street frontage opened up.

The new 325 square metre venue would be yards away from the highly rated Clarkes and would join the likes of Carluccio’s, Pizza Express, Wildwood and Nando’s which have joined the ever-growing food quarter around St John’s Square and Cathedral Square in the past couple of years.

French bistro chain Cote Brasserie also joined the fray last month, with a £1m restaurant opening across St John’s Square in Church Street, and work on a new Wagamama on nearby Long Causeway is well under way with a scheduled opening in the autumn.

However, Queensgate’s owners are staying tight-lipped about which chain could be moving in if the application - which would also see three new retail units created in the carved up H&M store, with accesss from inside the shopping centre - is approved .

H&M will be relocating its store in Queensgate later this summer. The H&M store in Peterborough is owned by Redevco, a real estate investment management company, but the firm said it will not comment now due to commercial sensitivities.

The latest application for a new restaurant or café was prepared by GL Hearn on behalf of Arioso UK General Partner LLP.

It says: “The site in its current use does not benefit from an active frontage.

“The proposed A3 use (restaurant/cafe) would enhance St John’s Square with a new active frontage and will increase activity in the northern section of the square.”

It adds that the proposal would “better integrate the Queensgate Centre on the historic streets.”

A public consultation on the proposals for Queensgate runs until June 30. A decision is currently due by July 21.