'Delight' as government approval of plans means next stage of Peterborough's Station Quarter regeneration project can begin

The next phase of Peterborough’s Station Quarter regeneration project can begin after initial plans were accepted by government.

Peterborough City Council (PCC) will now work on finalising details for the project, including its full costs and timeline, after approval of its outline business case (OBC) by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

The 152-page OBC, produced by Fore Consulting, contained images of what the £65m regeneration works might look like on completion and possible consequences, both positive and negative, of the development.

Current plans include a new western entrance and multi-storey car park and just over a hectare of public land.

Cllr Peter Hiller (Peterborough First, Glinton and Castor), PCC’s cabinet member for housing, growth and regeneration, said he’s “delighted to say we’re now turning our attention to working up a full business case”.

“This administration has always been very serious about the Station Quarter,” he continued at a PCC meeting this week. “We’re not into cartoon cheques and promises that the money has been delivered by political parties.”

Drawing down portions of DLUHC’s £48m funding for the project, allocated from its levelling up funds early last year, is dependent on it accepting successive business cases: the next one, the full business case (FBC), will include the finer details of the project.

Peterborough’s MP, Paul Bristow, and former council leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) celebrated DLUHC’s allocation of funds with a novelty cheque sporting the Conservatives’ logo, drawing criticism from other parties.

Cllr Fitzgerald acknowledged at the time that securing the funds was also thanks to the work of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), led by a Labour mayor, and council staff.

The OBC says the project will create a “new characterful city quarter” which it’s hoped will attract new jobs and businesses to the area and create better links with the city centre, including for pedestrians and cyclists.

It also suggests PCC will be responsible for the active travel element of the project, as well as changes to the roads network and new public realm, while LNER or Network Rail will focus on design and construction involving the station itself.

The council says its in-house highways team will deal with those elements of the projects, meaning its long-term delivery partner Milestone Infrastructure will carry out the works.

PCC will also be responsible for any cost overruns or additional expenditure for elements of the project covered by DLUHC’s funding.

The project will also be funded by £1.8m Towns Fund money, granted by DLUHC and the government’s local government ministry and £15.2m of private match funding.

The next step is the production of the FBC, anticipated in autumn this year, before construction can begin in “late 2024/January 2025” to March 2026.