But in calling "for an end to the impassioned pleas over the future of the Great Northern Hotel'', it is training its guns on the wrong target.

The implied criticism of those who have protested is misplaced.

The very reason the plans provoked such passion was because there had not been a debate about the hotel's future.

The storm over the hotel's future began when Opportunity Peterborough revealed "the development brief (for the Railway Quarter) assumes the Great Northern Hotel would go".

Adding that "we need to determine whether that is the right course of action" failed miserably to ease the fears of those dismayed at the threat to part of the city's heritage.

Imagine if Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony told fans: "The plan is to sell Aaron Maclean and then we'll decide whether that's a good idea or not". If he did, he'd have to deal with more than a few "impassioned pleas".

We do need a full and proper debate and the conclusion might be that the Great Northern has to be sacrificed for the sake of new developments.

We don't need assumptions which become actions which damage the city for ever.

James and two peaches

Irate myself as a bit of a sports buff so it is to my eternal shame that I had no idea who James Toseland is.

I now know that James is the World Superbike champion and is so popular that 3,000 people rocked up to Taz Motorcycles in First Drove, Fengate, when he made a promotional visit.

Mind you having seen this picture of James and two of his pals, I'm not convinced they were all there to see him.

My mate's sock-ing wedding day story

The sorry tale of health minister Alan Johnson, who was caught on camera with a hole in his sock when he visited the city's hospital, reminded me of my mate Matt's wedding.

Like me, he's a white Yorkshireman but he married a Sikh girl. For the ceremony he donned a turban, which was amusing enough in itself, as the only headgear I'd seen him in previously was a Bradford City bobble hat.

But when he made his entrance on the big day it wasn't his turban that sent the congregation into fits of laughter.

As custom dictated, Matt walked in shoeless, only to reveal a large hole in one of his socks out of which was poking his big toe. Potential Sock Malfunction is now No 83 in my list of excuses for avoiding marriage.

Building the right way?

Of all the developments planned for the city within the next decade one of the most important is the establishment of a university (assuming it doesn't just offer degrees in warehousing).

Last week The ET published an artist's impression of the planned university centre.

The £75million development will boast state-ofthe- art facilities. It is a real chance to create an iconic building for a city which will show we are "growing the right way''. But looking at this picture it appears only marginally more attractive than the warehouses planned for Stanground. Another opportunity missed

The city's own long and winding road

Poor old Lincoln Road has come in for a bit of bad press lately. Last week The

ET revealed it was top of the list for street robberies in city and this came not long after it was highlighted as an accident blackspot. Once again, one reason put forward to explain this was that it is a long and busy road.

Fair enough, but that can't be the whole story. The good people of Lincoln Road are deserving of a more rigorous response from the powers-that-be.