Political View: ​Financial challenges can be overcome with a commitment to growth

Indeed, it’s an undeniable fact that the situation is now more precarious 12 months on.

As the Conservative group we are actively contributing to the Financial Sustainability Working Group, and as responsible members will cooperate cross party to seek resolution to the financial challenges the Council faces in the current period of no overall control.

The new Labour administration is still in the process of orienteering; with an inexperienced leader and cabinet steering the ship, which could, without a very steady hand on the tiller, very well run aground fairly soon.

There are well founded concerns around progress of the big infrastructure projects that are underway; these could without some stimuli be in jeopardy of not being delivered – including the Towns fund projects which now need to bring in outside help and which have so far failed to deliver any sign of spades in the ground, with even the Station Quarter project also seeming to have hit the buffers!

On a positive note - Paul Bristow and Conservative group leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald recently attended the opening of “The Living Lab”, the latest phase of the ARU campus. A great success initiated by our Conservative administration, and an important part of our city, which is still evolving.

Living Labs are an exciting concept incubating the development of innovations - new ideas, technologies, practices that are applied in a real-world environment, typically within a specifically geographically bounded space, organizational jurisdiction or community, or university campus.

This is of course yet another example of the positive impact the University is having on our city, offering fantastic opportunities for current and future learning generations.

In my own ward of Eye Thorney & Newborough, last Thursday, my ward college Cllr Rylan Ray and I enjoyed a very successful Annual Dinner event at Mattoni Restaurant in Eye, with guest speaker Ben Obese-Jecty in attendance. Ben is the recently elected MP for the Huntingdon constituency and an MP who has very quickly made an impact in the Commons with his laser focused questioning of Government Ministers.

After a wide-ranging speech covering his previous military and business careers, Ben visited each table speaking to the diners, and then followed with a lively question and answer session.

Our former Peterborough Conservative MP Paul Bristow was on hand to thank Ben on behalf of the guests, and in doing so also outlined his plans for the Combined Authority if elected in May to the position of Mayor.

To hear these two accomplished and dedicated speakers with positive and confident deliveries of their vision for our Eastern region, can do nothing less than reinforce the message that we must capture opportunities before us for investment in infrastructure and the commitment to growth as the route to restoring and harnessing the fantastic potential of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, and the wider Eastern

region.

This of course, despite the adverse impact of Labour’s economy destroying national policies!