‘Exciting’ plans for Peterborough city centre and why petty criminals need to be fearful

An aerial view of the new link across the railway to the new car park as part of the station quarter redevelopment plans

There are exciting plans to develop our city centre, starting with the new station quarter, the university and North Westgate.

This will be helped by the Government’s New Towns Fund, which will see up to £25 million invested in Peterborough. There is a real partnership between national and local government.

Before heading down to Westminster on Monday I was at the Town Hall for a briefing meeting and I left full of optimism for the future. There was only one note of sadness: one of the architects of this vision for the city centre is about to leave public service.

Few people have done more for our city than Cllr John Holdich. John has been a councillor for a whopping 42 years, with two spells as leader of Peterborough City Council.

He has balanced the books of our local authority during tough times after Labour left the country with that notorious note saying there was “no money left”. He has also led the regeneration of Fletton Quays and protected crucial support services.

For me, it’s incredible to reflect that John has been serving Peterborough for longer than I have been alive. All of us – old or young – owe him a great deal. He departs with affection and love from those who know how much he has done.

There is now a big job to fill and it’s to the future we look.

The new city council leadership will need to deliver on the regeneration projects. They will also need to get on with the ‘day job’ of delivering effective public services.

I want the council to prioritise crime and fly-tipping. It’s time for a zero-tolerance approach.

So what would that mean? Put simply, petty criminals and fly-tippers should be made to worry that they will be caught. Actions should have consequences.

We need it to be clear that if you drop litter, fly-tip or openly smoke drugs in our city, we will catch you and we will prosecute you. It needs a high-profile PR campaign and enforcement. Signs should proclaim our new status of zero tolerance. Council officials shouldn’t be afraid of issuing on-the-spot fines.

This needs to be matched with more police officers. Already Cambridgeshire has scores of new officers thanks to the Prime Minister’s pledge to recruit 20,000 additional PCs nationwide. But these new officers need to be in Peterborough, cracking down on petty crime. No more ‘blind eye’ to vandalism, street drinking and smoking drugs.

And whoever becomes the county’s new Police and Crime Commissioner needs to get behind this. When we select a Conservative candidate for the PCC election I will be asking for this commitment and backing the person who can give the most convincing answer.

We can do this. We can make Peterborough an even better place to live and work, through regeneration and through a tougher approach in our public spaces.

We just have to be bold, ambitious and unafraid to call out those whose behaviour damages our city and gives Peterborough a bad name. We shouldn’t tolerate that. So let’s stop tolerating it. It’s never okay to disrespect our city and your fellow Peterborians.