IN PICTURES: Peterborough's much-talked about development plans that have still to be completed

Peterborough’s award-winning university is held as a symbol of the city’s success and proof that ambitious development can be achieved.

Yet the £30 million ARU Peterborough, in Bishop’s Road, can perhaps also be seen as the exception that proves the general rule, that development plans are easily put together but can struggle to actually get off the ground.

Or if they do get off the ground, as in the case of the £30 million Hilton Garden Inn, at Fletton Quays, they can prove awkward to finish.

Our photographs focus on some of Peterborough’s high profile development projects that are labouring their way to completion.

The privately funded regeneration of North Westgate has been in the mix for 30 years plus. Much of the land has been acquired and plans were approved in 2018 but no development has taken place.

Hopes of an early completion for an apartments development for the former Whitworth Mill at Fletton Quays have been set back, according to owner Lioncross, because of ‘onerous’ planning conditions.

The landmark Beales building in Westgate has secured approval for an apartments and commercial units development but work has yet to start while the owner seeks a buyer.

Even the promise of Government funding does not guarantee that a project is easy to complete.

The city has secured £22.9 million of Government Towns Fund money for eight separate projects that include The Vine community and cultural hub and the Lakeside Activity Centre, which includes an Olympic-grade Climbing Wall, at Ferry Meadows.

The Vine was to have been set in the former TK Maxx building in Bridge Street. But after a developer sought to buy the former store from Peterborough City Council to turn it into a conference and banqueting centre, it was decided to split the project across two sites, in a Victorian rail shed at Fletton Quays and the Central Library.

No announcements have yet been made that the TK Maxx building or the rail shed have been sold.

Plans for the Activity Centre were approved in 2021 but despite getting £1.5 million Towns Fund cash, and with costs rising from £8 million to £10 million, Nene Park Trust says it is still looking to raise the money needed for the building.