'Eyesore' at Peterborough''s historic Guildhall is branded symbol of 'decline'

The scathing remarks come from Paul Stainton, who is a member of Peterborough’s tourism economy group, in the wake of a number of complaints about the ‘eyesore' created by metal fencing placed around the entrance of the historic Guildhall that overlooks Cathedral Square.

In a message on the social media site X, Mr Stainton stated: “That awful fence has been a metaphor for the city’s centre’s decline for the last two years.”

The fencing has already been criticised by Pep Cipriano, chief operating officer of Peterborough Positive, and Toby Wood, vice-chairman of Peterborough Civic Trust.

Mr Stainton posted: “Well done to Pep and the team for doing something about it.

"Now if we could only see some sort of vision/plan for the regen of the city centre.”

Afterwards, Mr Stainton explained: “The city city centre has long needed a vision/plan agreed by all stakeholders and communities, one that they can all buy into and help deliver.

"For the last 20 years there has been no plan and the city centre has been left to its own devices and it has slowly declined.

"We are lagging so far behind near neighbours like Lincoln, in terms of bars, restaurants and leisure and despite the best efforts of the BID it just keeps getting worse.

He said: "We urgently need VAR - Vision, Action and Results and some desire for change.”

The fencing in front of the Guildhall was put up by Peterborough City Council to secure the entrance to the 354 year-old building and stop vandals gaining access to the first floor.

It follows an incident last Christmas when someone climbed the spiral staircase and tried to set fire to the door on the first floor.

A council spokesperson has said that local authority officers had not been happy with initial plans to fix the problem at the Guildhall and had requested that further plans be drawn up.

The council says it is hoped that work will start in the autumn.