A 15,000-seat ground – which would replace the club's existing home in London Road – could be built on land south of Bishop's Road.

Although no specific site has been earmarked, the stadium could be put up on a corridor of land between the defunct Wirrina youth club and the Frank Perkins Parkway at Potter's Way. Access would probably be created with a new junction here to get traffic on and off the parkway.

As part of the redevelopment, the stadium could double-up as a music venue, while there could be homes, hotels and shops on the site.

The re-location proposal has been put forward in a City Centre Area Action Plan (CCAAP), which was jointly commissioned by Peterborough City Council and development agency Opportunity Peterborough (OP), in November 2007.

There are three composite scenarios envisaged, with different mixtures of "ingredients" as part of forward thinking to radically change the whole city centre area by 2021. But, like North Westgate and South Bank development, a new Posh stadium could be part of a plan that comes about at an early stage.

The Evening Telegraph was given a sneak preview of the potential developments yesterday, when OP chief executive Steve Compton said that, following discussions with Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony, the so-called North Embankment area had emerged as the preferred option.

Posh are thought to have looked at 11 potential sites across Peterborough, with two other proposals – an out-of-city centre location and a re-development of the existing ground – also mooted in the CCAAP.

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However, Mr Compton said: "Every successful city has a successful football club. With plans for the city coming forward, this is the opportune moment for the club to move.

"The redevelopment of the club goes hand in glove with the re-development of the city centre."

As well as ending the club's 74-year association with the city centre, building a stadium on Peterborough's outskirts would sit uneasily with the city's aspiration to become the UK's environment capital.

Re-developing the existing Posh ground would retain the club on its historical site, but issues of car parking and access would have to be resolved.

The biggest hurdle facing the North Embankment site could also be access, but there are already plans in the pipeline to create the new junction off the Frank Perkins Parkway to alleviate the problem.

Other proposals for North Embankment could include a new 50-metre Olympics-standard swimming pool to replace the aging Regional Pool, and a section of the city's new four-site university campus.

Another option could be to create the huge new pool and a new athletics track outside the city centre.

The first consultation event will be held at The Friend's Meeting House, in Thorpe Road, on Friday, between 6.30pm and 9pm.

Fans back possible move
Peterborough Independent Supporters Association chairman Adi Mowles said: "The Embankment is a great location. It is important that the ground is in the hub of the city.

"Posh supporters want a location that is easy to get to, they don't want it in an industrial estate or miles out of the city. Posh fans, and football supporters as a whole, are creatures of habit, they see the same people at the games, they drink in the same pubs and they eat from the same places.

"A ground outside of the city just wouldn't be practical."

Chairman of the Posh Supporters Club Peter Lloyd also welcomed the new location. He said: "The proposed site would mean the ground is staying in the centre of Peterborough within easy reach to as many people as possible, which is very good news."