Political View: Peterborough, the Christmas destination
It’s beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas, writes Councillor John Howard, Conservative Group Press Officer
And already, there have been so many fantastic festive events across the city.
Sadly, our household has been struck with this horrid chesty flu strain that’s been an unwelcome visitor, which means I can tell you more about the events I’ve missed than I’ve attended sadly. We did manage to qualify in Elf School at Ferry Meadows, and Nene Park Trust have done a superb job of making Ferry Meadows a real festive destination at this time of year. It was a fun event, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year!
We did miss the Cathedrals wonder of Christmas; despite having the welcome luxury of being able to reschedule the dates, it still didn’t work for our recovery from this flu. This event has had great feedback, and like Nene Park, the Cathedral really does stretch its legs at this time of year to host some fantastic events.
It bodes well for the future of the city, as I really do believe if we all start thinking of Peterborough as a destination rather than a starting point of a journey, more people will travel to see the Christmas anchor events that take place in Peterborough. And imagine, the station quarter in place with its wide-open gateway to the city centre in place, the embankment, with a proper vision that allows the space to host and a riverside full of leisure attractions all fully lit and open up, and then crossing over on the bridge, which could connect to a bustling goods shed venue.
One day. And then we could well have a very exciting destination where places like Nene Park and the Cathedral would benefit from the extra footfall. Imagine if the embankment hosted its own winter wonderland event one day. The future is bright, especially if it’s filled with more Christmas lights, so I fully agree with my colleague and friend Councillor Steve Allen, we certainly don’t want to see a tourism tariff or similar come to Peterborough, especially while we are still finding our place as a destination city with so much potential ahead of us.
Queensgate is strengthening its retail offer with the recent opening of HMV. Frasers looks set to open this weekend and this will bring a much-missed store space back to life in our city. It would be the perfect time for the council to work with our combined authority mayor on his free parking incentive too, with Queensgate now seeing all these new retail offerings, a little touch of free parking would be very welcome. And it was said for the Lido, ‘use it or loose it’ and that is true of our new retail partners too.
John Lewis and Marks & Spencers couldn’t make the numbers work, so if we want stores like HMV and Frasers to stay, my message is: please, please go and shop with them, support them, and let’s make Queensgate buzz like we remember. Yes, there is still work to do around Queensgate, and I’m happy that it seems work is starting to get something happening for the Guildhall and Cathedral Square, with our motion keeping the focus. There is plenty to do on feeling safe around the city centre, and that’s where we need to make sure we are all working together to contribute to the city centre being the place we want it to be, as part of the destination offer of Peterborough. And in the meantime, please do stay well and healthy these weeks ahead. I will be trying to!