Political View: And so this is Christmas, and what have you done………

Let’s make a quick sweep of the positives and a few negatives (certainly not exhaustive) for this week’s column…………..

It’s great to see Queensgate enjoying a revival in its fortunes. The arrival of Frasers and associated brands, together with several other new retailers must be something we can all be pleased about, particularly with the relentless advance of online shopping retailers have to compete with.

The ‘it’s not John Lewis’s’ bleat must be countered with an understanding that change is inevitable, particularly in a competitive marketplace. So, a trip to town rather than 10mins on your keyboard will be a positive gesture you can make to ensure the success of Queensgate’s retailers, and other City Centre shops, bars and restaurants.

Regarding City centre restaurants, it’s certainly worth celebrating the small surge of new eateries, particularly those with a curry offer. As the new offerings are spread around the city area, we can’t claim to have Curry Quarter as many other Cities do, but notwithstanding the lack of a ‘cluster’ we can certainly proclaim that Peterborough is blessed with an excellent Indian restaurant offer – from street food and short order to full menu offerings to choose from.

Another uplifting development is the recent establishment of a tourism initiative centring around the new Peterborough Tourist Board. This collaborative body has a great opportunity to prompt the many attractions of our city. Often overlooked by those who often wear the virtual blinkers that comes with being local to attractions that are of great interest and appeal those who are visitors to the area.

The new Tourist board and the Discover Peterborough Website are hopefully a catalyst to increased visitor numbers. Let us hope the enthusiasm with this initiative will drive out the negativity so often aimed at those who are keen to promote the appeal of our city.

So that’s just a few of the positive reflections as we look to the negative challenges.

Although issues not confined to Peterborough, when we look at relentless of littering and fly tipping in and around our City, I am sure I share views of many in bemoaning the apparent inability of many to share any responsibility for their anti-social actions. What is needed is the kind of relentless initiative that saw the ‘broken windows’ approach proving to be so successful some years ago.

Do we have the will? More importantly does society have the resources to make a change happen, or are we condemned to an inexorable depressing spiral of decline with the maintenance of the public realm, and the drip-drip acceptance of reduced standards, and the relentlessness with which our roadsides and rural ditches and fields are used as a dumping grounds for society’s discarded white goods and building detritus. Often a practice driven by organised criminality and which is insufficiently addressed.

Add to this lack of care for the environment, there must be concerns for the insidious transformation of our towns, cities and villages by the arrival of over lit mini marts, vape shops and gaudy barbers which now dominate High Streets everywhere. Clearly another area also in many cases attributable to criminality on a large scale.

Leaving aside the pessimism I will return to the Lennon lyrics and wish all readers ‘’A very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear’’

That outcome is somewhat within our own grasp, but only if we take steps to push for positive outcomes and demand high standards from all responsible authorities.