The need for arts and leisure

This is a rather bleak view. Surely, cities are intended for people to live and fulfil their dreams.

Yes, work and industry are part of it, but there are other elements too: we need parks in which to stroll, places to find leisure and entertainment and so on. Remove the “fun” from a city and it becomes a hollow shell, a merely functional place where people go to work and do little else.

Thus, the collapse of the Vivacity contract should concern us all. This is the latest in a series of ill-conceived outsourcing ventures that the Conservatives put forward.

In 2016, the Uniting Care Partnership collapsed, thus leaving our local NHS trust in the lurch. We’ve seen what happened to the Virgin East Coast Rail franchise.

Vivacity is just the latest example. Vivacity found that it was not economic to continue. They have exited and handed their functions back to the council. Now what?

We need to face into some facts. Yes, our leisure facilities are vital, but it is going to take some time for the leisure and arts sectors to come back after the coronavirus pandemic.

No realistic business plan can say that they will make a profit immediately. It is difficult to say when they will make a surplus. Nevertheless, having leisure facilities is vital.

The well-known writer was perhaps being a bit too glib in his statement that cities are merely the mess left over from people earning a living. What makes people want to stay in a particular place? We are not living in an era in which people are tied to a particular coal mine or factory.

Rather, people come to a place for a number of different reasons, economic ones are only part of the mix.

Anyone who has an eye to the future wants to go somewhere they can enjoy as well as make a living.

Furthermore, there is evidence that a thriving leisure and arts sector can be an economic benefit. Chichester does very well with its Festival Theatre, attracting talent which can only normally be seen in London or in the movie theatres.

Furthermore, having leisure facilities in the centre of the city can increase footfall for restaurants and shops. Leisure and arts facilities add more to our local economy than may be obvious at first glance.

The Labour Group and I believe we need a new ledger. Yes, there is nothing to be gained by spending money egregiously, but it appears that the Conservatives don’t take a holistic view of services they provide.

Railway lines are seen in the context of making money by themselves, rather than looking at say, the savings accrued by reduced wear and tear on our roads, reduced incidence of lung conditions due to fewer cars being driven etc.

The leisure and arts facilities of our city need to be viewed the same way: what are the effects on our quality of life, how people feel about the city, what positive effect does it have on wellbeing, what impact does it have on the willingness of business to invest here?

Peterborough is far more than just the mess left over after people have made money.

That is how it can and will be successful.