Political View: Are things progressing or just taking forever to get moving?
The near once a month full council meeting is a prime opportunity for councillors to get answers for our residents, writes Lib Dem councillor Polly Geraghty.
Following a recent news story regarding the arrangements around Peterborough Community Radio’s tenancy, our council leader was quoted as saying he was made aware of the fact that the organisation was not only paying the Council no rent for the premises but had also been granted 100% exemption from Business Rates in October/November of 2024. He was further quoted as saying that he had instructed Cecille Booth, at the time our Executive Director of Corporate Services, to begin the process of ending the arrangement.
I asked the leader at a recent council meeting what steps have been made to end the arrangement since that call and what he had done to follow up on the progress, given that over 7 months have passed since that call.
Frankly the answer was particularly non-committal - “We’re in continued dialogue with Peterborough Community Radio to sort out the tenancy. We’ve now issued, or are in the process of issuing formal terms that include paying a fair market rent, just like any other tenant would. This is part of our wider effort to make sure all council properties are treated consistently and fairly. Our Estates team is following up, and Legal Services are ready to step in if indeed needed. This follows my instruction to tidy up older arrangements that no longer or may no longer offer best value for the council.”
In answer to a supplemental question he was unable to state how much longer we would need to wait until PCR was paying a fair market rent and merely responded with a “it’s work in progress”
Given that numerous community groups have been asked to pay, why is it taking so long to get PCR to pay when it only has a tenancy at will lease?
I’m glad to report that after years of campaigning to sort the antisocial behaviour in the Pleasure Fair Meadows by my ward colleague and group leader Cllr Christian Hogg, we now have a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in place for the car park and early signs are showing the ASB car meets have been much reduced, thanks to our local Neighbourhood Policing Team for actively patrolling and enforcing the order, alongside the council’s own enforcement team and CCTV operators.
Hopefully the success of this PSPO will mean we can tackle other areas that are suffering from antisocial behaviour by more of these PSPOs?