John Howard Column: Falling in love with the Embankment again

For those who attended the 46th Peterborough Beer Festival last week, amongst the drinks you tasted, you also got a taste of the future, and what potential there is for the Embankment and South Bank area of the city.

Imagine the connectivity: a main event on the embankment, the Beer Festival, a concert or my favourite the Great Eastern Run, and then crossing over via Cygnet Bridge to visit a thriving Goods Shed offering a wide range of food and drinks. One of the reasons I’m so enthusiastic about this, is I’ve seen it! Not in Peterborough.. yet, but I’ve seen it on a recent trip to Ireland. The Cork Marina Market is a former warehouse that is now a thriving market set in the Cork Marina. It’s in a more industrialised area than we have around the Goods Shed, and yet it works. People coming in lunch breaks, families visiting on school holidays, and then fans from the local stadium pre and post-matches and gigs, all attending. There is a huge range of foods and drinks with music playing and it’s turned an area that may be unexpected into a busy social hub. The Goods Shed can do this and much more, and once this is open, imagine what it does for that whole South Bank area.

Imagine seeing something at the Key Theatre, or a Posh win, and then stepping into a bustling South Bank area. It would complete a vision started by a Conservative administration that I will be delighted to see completed. I am full of enthusiasm for it as you can probably tell, but having seen with my own eyes what’s possible, I dearly want to see this happen in Peterborough.

There are some hurdles to overcome. Progress on Cygnet Bridge has gone very quiet. When I had a voice on this project, I always challenged if this project was inflation-proof. I dearly hope the assurances I had at the time hold good as this bridge will unlock the next phase of this part of the city. The Goods Shed won’t have an overnight outcome of course, it will take time, but let’s see the vision and timescales, let’s get excited and positive about these things that are happening around us. And I’ve mentioned it before, but you can’t ignore the Hilton Hotel which still sits as an unfinished building. We must get a solution on this and somehow get the hotel finished and open. Look at what we’ll have in this area to offer to guests when it all completes.

Many commentators have questioned the need for the Cygnet Bridge, I think it works with an eye on the future rather than the present. With all the factors above, this bridge will unlock the Embankment and connect with the University too. And as per a previous article, I believe the river edge of the Embankment can offer something too. A mix of leisure, culture, food and drink would really make this area exciting and contribute to the safety of the area too. This would leave the main stretch of the Embankment to do all the things we love. I would like to see more main events at the Embankment-we had a good run of concerts and festivals in the past, and it would be a boost for the city centre to get more events on.

You’ve had your fun at the South Bank, on the embankment, and then make your way to the city centre. As we touched on in my last article, let’s get the safety running through the city centre again. Using the extra Police resource, let’s get tougher on the public space protection order for this area. Get the visitor economy strategy going again and embrace the stakeholders of the city who are already doing good work. Get a plan and vision again for the Guildhall and make this part of the centre hub. The key part to the success of the city centre is having enough visitors, feeling safe, spending in the city centre. There is much to do, but as you can see, there are reasons to be optimistic, now we will push that everyone does their part for a better Peterborough.