Opinion: Starting the year with good news

On Monday we will have our first Cabinet meeting of the new year and members will be asked to approve phase three of the university project, which will include a second teaching building and interactive public science centre. The project will be partly funded by a £20million investment from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, and recently secured planning permission.

The Living Lab will be an interactive science centre and education space aimed at engaging and inspiring residents and visitors to the city in science and technology. It will be open to the community as part of a pedestrian-friendly campus and will have the flexibility to host a variety of events, exhibitions, immersive displays, talks, forums and evening classes.

It will also enable ARU Peterborough to broaden its curriculum, including into STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) - welcoming up to 1,700 more students between 2024/25 to 2027/28.

All this will mean that the benefits of having a university in Peterborough will be even greater still - benefits such as increased job opportunities and higher earning rates for residents.

The combined authority’s business board will need to sign off on the scheme at its meeting on 25 January for it to go ahead. If that approval is given, spades are expected in the ground early this year, with completion in autumn 2024.

It’s great to start off the new year with some good news and last week the council’s chief executive and I went to visit an exciting new housing development which will provide 75 new affordable homes on Trelowen Way, Hempsted.

Building work is well on the way for these new homes, which will provide much needed affordable rent accommodation at the start of next year. It was a pleasure to meet the team from Burmor Construction who are building the homes for Accent Nene.

Like many councils, we no longer build our own council homes. We have passed that responsibility to housing associations, such as Accent Nene, who provide social housing in Peterborough and deliver new affordable homes for residents.

In the past three years, 668 new affordable homes have been completed in the city. Many of those homes were provided as rented tenure housing, like the new properties at Trelowen Way will be.

Looking at house building in general, in the last financial year there were 1,005 housing completions in the city of which 109 were affordable homes.

We know that housing is in great demand in the city, as it is in many cities, so we will continue to work hard with our partners to ensure that we build as many new homes as we can each year; homes that suit all in terms of price, size and location.

In an effort to improve private rental housing, at Monday’s cabinet meeting we’ll be discussing whether to proceed with a with a revised selective licensing scheme.

Selective licensing requires landlords to apply for a five-year licence to prove their accommodation meets certain standards. The original scheme which ran from December 2016 in 22 different areas of the city was a big success with an improvement in the quality of private rental accommodation and a reduction in anti-social behaviour.

As a result, we have seen widespread demand for selective licensing to be introduced across Peterborough.

Analysis of the private rental sector has shown that approximately 9,000 more properties across 24 places now fit the criteria for selective licensing, which include high anti-social behaviour and crime, poor property conditions and high deprivation. The new scheme would see three areas under the original scheme removed and an additional five areas now included.

Cabinet will also be asked to agree to analyse a potential additional licensing scheme covering three and four bedroom rental properties in Peterborough with shared amenities. There are believed to be up to 2,000 such properties, and the introduction of a scheme would also help regulate properties which are not covered by selective licensing.

We know there are many good landlords out there, but unfortunately there are still some whose properties do not meet basic standards, and we know poor housing can have a massive impact on a person’s health which is why we are determined to take action.

From this week you will start to hear about something called Voter ID, which will come into force at this year’s local elections.

To be able to vote in the city council elections on 4 May, voters will need to show a form of photo identification. Those who don’t have an accepted form of ID will shortly be able to apply for free ID. You can find out more at www.electoralcommission.org.uk

May might seem like a long way off, but it will come round quickly, so please check that you have the identification you will need to vote, as I want as many people as possible to do so.