Explainer: What happens next and how does the Station Quarter fit into the bigger vision for Peterborough?

While politicians voice their delight at the £48 million grant to kickstart the transformation of Peterborough’s Station Quarter, the reality is that the development will take at least five years to complete.

Following approval by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the funding bid, which was jointly put together by Peterborough City Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, work will soon start to draw up a planning application for the site.

It is hoped the development, which will need to attract a further £22 million of investment from other sources, will keep to the following timetable.

An outline planning application is expected to be submitted to the city council this year with some preliminary works starting later in the year.

If planning permission is granted, construction of a new western entrance to the station and car parking will begin towards the end of 2024.

Station enhancements and a new footbridge could be carried out over 12 months from March 2025.

The railways station’s maintenance delivery unit is expected to be relocated by March 2026 with wider development of the Station Quarter continuing up to 2028.

Winning the support of the Government’s levelling up officials for the Station Quarter, also means that the central piece in Peterborough’s £600 million city regeneration masterplan is finally in place.

The Station Quarter development was seen as the one that would kickstart the regeneration of seven other key opportunity areas that are included in the city’s masterplan, which was unveiled several years ago.

A conference of financiers, entrepreneurs and developers was held two years ago to encourage at least some of them to invest in the city.

It was hoped ‘spades would go in the ground’ at the station in 2021.

As it turns out, a number of the other development sites are leading the way with Fletton Quays, the university, and Northminster making rapid progress.

North Westgate has been problematic for decades but a solution is expected soon, the future of the Embankment and Middleholme sites are controversial and Rivergate is still under consideration.