Former council leaders fears Peterborough's growth reputation in danger from planning process

A former council leader says he fears that Peterborough’s reputation for being a ‘growth city’ is in danger of being undermined by a drawn-out planning process.

The criticism has come from John Holdich, who was leader of Peterborough City Council from 2015 and served as a councillor for 45 years until retiring in May 2021.

During his time as leader, the city was regularly named as one of the fastest growing in the country and he also oversaw the start, in 2015, of the long overdue development of Fletton Quays area of the city.

Peterborough currently has a £1 billion regeneration programme and has secured about £23 million in Government Levelling Up funds to power its new growth.

But Mr Holdich has voiced his concerns shortly after securing planning approval for a 22,000 square metres employment development on an 18 acres site south of Oxney Road after spending more than a year pushing it through the planning process.

The application for the site, which has been in the family’s ownership for several generations, was submitted in 2022 and was approved just a fortnight ago.

He said: “It has been a very frustrating time.

"The problem seems to be the turnover of staff in the council’s planning office.

"We never seemed to deal with the same officer twice and always seemed to have to explain the issues over again each time and didn’t always get the same advice.

He warned: "If Peterborough wants to go on being a growth city it needs to sort out the planning office.”

Mr Holdich, who employed London-based planning advisers to handle the application so he could remain distant from the process, said: “I’m just relieved that we have got to this point."

He said the site would now be marketed and put out to tender.

He added: “I’ve turned down previous offers of £400,000 and £800,000.

"This bit of land has always been for my five grandchildren.”

Now planning chiefs, while dismissing his fears, have urged him to get in touch to talk about his concerns.

A council spokesperson said: “Peterborough planning office is currently well staffed.

"We have achieved this by attracting planners to come and be a part of our exciting development programme including the station quarter which is the flagship project of a £1bn city centre regeneration programme.

“Other councils, across the country, are finding it difficult to attract and retain staff, but Peterborough is bucking the trend and enjoying a renaissance.

“We did employ a number of agency staff for resilience while we were rebuilding the department, but we have now replaced almost all of these with permanent staff.

"We have also promoted internally, rewarding staff loyalty and supporting planners starting in their career and also offering greater continuity for applicants.

“We are always looking at how we can improve what we do and how we do it, and we recognise that things go wrong sometimes.

"We would welcome a conversation with Mr Holdich, to discuss any concerns he has.”