Opinion: Making sure the city centre is a safe place

Generally, Peterborough is a safe place to live, work and play but we always take any issues around anti-social behaviour (ASB) seriously and look to act where we can.

We are currently aware that the behaviour of certain individuals such as street drinkers is impacting on the way the city centre is perceived and may be putting some people off visiting.

I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done to enhance our city centre in recent years and want it to be somewhere that everyone can visit and enjoy at all times. Quite simply, we don’t want a tiny minority of people spoiling things for the vast majority.

So that’s why next month, a team of dedicated city centre officers will be deployed as part of a six-month crackdown on street drinking and other forms of ASB.

The team will patrol the city centre in conjunction with our prevention and enforcement officers aimed at deterring those engaging in ASB. They will be trained to work with individuals, first using verbal persuasion to encourage them to stop.

If this approach is not successful, then officers have the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices and/or build up a dossier of evidence with a view to using further legal action.

We will complete a review of the scheme when it finishes in March 2023 and use the findings to decide if this should be a full-time solution for the city. If this happens, there is also a possibility that small changes to the scope could be made, such as extending the area to other sections of the city.

This trial – which uses the same company which provided our Covid-19 marshalls – will show if the placement of dedicated city centre officers has a positive impact on the look and feel of this area. If it does, then we will look at making this a permanent addition.

Our local economy has bounced back well after Covid – footfall in the city centre is healthy and Peterborough’s population continues to rise, showing that people and businesses want to move here.

However, we never rest on our laurels and that’s why I recently met with city MP Paul Bristow and discussed the prospect of Peterborough becoming one of the country’s new Investment Zones.

This new national initiative, announced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last week, is aimed at setting up special zones in areas where a variety of beneficial tax, regulatory innovations and flexibilities, and planning simplifications will apply to firms.

We feel this would be a great idea – it would mean lower taxes so even more businesses come to Peterborough, creating further growth and opportunities.

This is something that we will be exploring over the coming weeks and I’ll keep you updated with our progress.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this summer – we had warm weather and several exciting events, bringing people together for the first time in ages.

Packed concerts at the Embankment and successful return of the Peterborough Beer Festival was fantastic to see.

Time flies by and with shorter evenings and Strictly Come Dancing returning on TV you know that autumn is here! As a council we always plan well ahead, so you may not be surprised to hear that preparations are well under way for this Christmas.

As always, the centrepiece of our festive celebrations will be a giant Christmas tree in Cathedral Square and I’m delighted to confirm that we’ve already selected an impressive one.

Councillor Steve Allen donned his Santa hat and ventured deep into a pine forest to hand-pick our tree - you can see it for yourself by watching a video on our YouTube channel.

On the subject of trees, the council is fully committed to reducing carbon emissions across

Peterborough, but it’s a big task and we need everyone to play a part. That’s why we’re asking residents to recommend sites for tree planting this winter.

You can now suggest locations to be considered for potential tree planting – visit www.peterborough.gov.uk for more information and to make applications. Our tree officers will consider applications over autumn and once funding has been decided, and the number of trees to be planted is known, we will create a planting schedule.

It’s safe to say that several hundred new trees will be planted so if you know a suitable site please let us know.

Perhaps you have a nearby open space that could benefit from trees to create welcome shade in the summer months or a well-used pedestrian route that could be enhanced with spring blossom or autumn colour to add all year interest.

Finally, next week I’ll be heading to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham with a strong

contingent from Peterborough.

It’s always good to get together with fellow party members to discuss plans and ideas. It will

hopefully give me another chance to catch up with Prime Minister Liz Truss, who visited

Peterborough on her recent campaign trail and is fully supportive of what we’re working to achieve

here.