Opinion: Why an exciting year lies ahead for Peterborough

The arrival of a new year is exactly this, a good opportunity for many for a reset, a fresh start, resolution and hope.

Reflecting on the past year can be a powerful exercise. This time last year set 5 priorities for Peterborough in 2023:

1.  A new NHS Community Diagnostic Centre.

We got the agreement that Peterborough will get a centre.

This is big news and will mean an extra 67,000 more scans, tests and checks for conditions such as cancer, heart disease and lung disease, right here in Peterborough every year. This will reduce pressure on GP surgeries and our hospital. These plans need to be finished and we need spades in the ground.

1. The University will come alive with more and more young people studying there next year.

There are more and more students arriving here each academic year which is fantastic news for our city. It was powered by £34 million of money we secured for Peterborough. I recently visited and they have been up for multiple awards.

It is injecting life into our City Centre and compliments the £23 million I helped secure for regeneration. It will offer opportunity and hope for local young people and is key to our plan to deliver a high skill, high wage economy.

1. Boots on the ground and action on anti-social behaviour in our City Centre.

We have 145 extra police officers in Cambridgeshire and more police than the local constabulary has ever had.

This has translated into action on anti-social behaviour and street drinking in our city centre. There is already a noticeable difference in Cathedral Square and Bridge Street but I want this to continue across the whole city centre.

There is nothing kind or tolerant about allowing this destructive behaviour, doing nothing fails businesses, local residents and the street drinkers themselves.

1. Continued improvement in our local schools.

We have moved steadily up the league tables, defying previous predictions of doom, but we can’t stop now. Teachers, schools and the local Council have worked together to make this happen.

I have visited many schools across Peterborough and am always amazed at the fantastic work teachers do across our city.

1. Great Northern Hotel back as a premium City Centre Hotel – or at the very least included in the £48 million Station Quarter investment.

Almost everyone accepts that the Great Northern was the wrong hotel for young men crossing the Channel illegally on small boats. That is why our campaign was successful - and the hotel will be stood down.

Well, everyone except Peterborough Labour, Lib Dems and Greens.

Saying the Great Northern Hotel is not suitable is not racist or divisive. Why is it their instinct to label people with genuine concerns as racist? If Labour wins - expect more hotels, more small boats, no plan.

2023 has not always been easy and many people in Peterborough did receive cost of living payments. It is also heartbreaking to see war continue in Ukraine and death and destruction in Gaza.

But overall, 2023 was a good year for Peterborough. We achieved many of our goals and 2024 looks like it could be an even more exciting year. We are a city on the up!