Civic Pride: There really is so much to be Positive about in Peterborough

We have already celebrated a wide variety of local buildings and celebrities – there are more to come.

Now blue plaques don’t grow on trees – they are manufactured to a very high standard by hand in Derbyshire. As well as the plaques themselves the Civic Society also produced a 24-page booklet to accompany them.

We have been determined that his booklet should be free for visitors, both local and national, so that each plaque can be explained further. When the new plaques have been finally decided and ordered then we will produce a revised, updated and expanded version of the booklet, likely to be 36 pages. More details in the months to come so watch this space/column!

Although the Civic Society raises funds to make the blue plaque project happen, we are also very grateful for financial assistance from other sources, in particular the National Lottery Heritage Fund and our very own Peterborough Positive. This is a city centre BID (Business Improvement District) organisation that represents more than 350 local business and organisations and which focusses on delivering a business plan to improve the overall visitor experience in the city centre. It aims to help make the city centre a cleaner, safer and more welcoming place.

Peterborough Positive has been responsible for a wide range of initiatives in the city centre, including commissioning some of Nathan Murdoch and Tony Nero’s excellent murals, providing planters, producing maps and signs for visitors and sponsoring and organising events to bring new life to the city centre.

It provides city centre ambassadors to help with safety, cleanliness and visitor support and work with other people – Police and city council environment officers – to keep the city centre attractive, vibrant and safe. Crucially Peterborough Positive promotes the city, including collaborating with businesses, working with stakeholders such as the Peterborough Tourism Board and the city council on marketing and development and coordinating information to promote Peterborough and encourage visitors. Indeed, when our blue plaques are launched, the accompanying booklet will display the Peterborough Positive logo as a valued partner.

You may have seen Chief Operating Officer Pep Cipriano and his colleagues Terri Flack, Matt Simpson, Emma Lilley and Olivia Gough in and around the centre. They have a very high profile and are often seen popping in and out of shops and businesses, gauging opinion, disseminating information and, perhaps most importantly, promoting what the city has to offer to both residents and visitors alike.

Special thanks must also go to those city centre businesses, both large and small, that are doing their bit to promote Peterborough. Businesses are not just there to make money and sell goods and services. Peterborough’s businesses clearly realise that they are part of a wider community and are interdependent. As consumers, none of us ‘pop into town’ for just one thing. We’ll visit, and spend money, in a variety of shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs and entertainment venues.

Much has already happened to promote Peterborough and the reasons for visiting the city centre are many and varied. It would be unfair of me to single out individual businesses but it is clear that many of them are really trying hard. Just look at what interesting, quirky and often unique items that we can now buy in some of these shops. Just sample some of the new drinks that can be bought in the increasing number of outlets. Just look at the number of places there are now, particularly in Cathedral Square, Bridge Street and Long Causeway, where we can sit outside, have a meal, drink and watch the world go by.

Older residents might reminisce about the city centre with rose-coloured glasses. For example, look at old photographs of the Market, now Cathedral, Square. It might look busy but, take it from me, it ain’t pretty. Just look at the tatty stalls, grimy buildings and smelly traffic. No wonder I had asthma when I was a child. The hoary old chestnuts of “it was better in the old days” and “we don’t have John Lewis any more” are gradually being replaced with “but we do have a thriving city centre, there’s lots going on – honest!”

Peterborough people can often be very straightforward – they don’t believe in complicated concepts or highfaluting theories – as so it is with our city centre. In the past week three people have expressed similar views to me by saying a simple phrase – “Peterborough is on the way up”.

There lots to be positive about in Peterborough and Peterborough Positive itself is leading the way, flying the flag and forging forward. Once more we can safely say that “Peterborough is on the way up …!”