Key landowner in Peterborough's North Westgate regeneration zone looks to revive development hopes
The largest landowner in a key regeneration zone in Peterborough is to meet with council chiefs in a bid to breathe new life into multi million pound development plans.
Peter Breach, chairman of Hawksworth Securities, says the time could be right to revive his plans for a transformation of the derelict North Westgate site.
He said: “I am meeting with council officers over the next fortnight to look at proposals for the site and exchange views.
“I do see a light at the end of the tunnel and I am still hopeful we can get this site developed.
“It is way beyond time to get this site developed.”
His comments come as work proceeds at pace on the redevelopment of the Queensgate roundabout land, which is the first phase of the £65 million Station Quarter development. The Station Quarters edges up to the North Westgate site.
Mr Breach said that current difficulty was securing tenants..
“Getting good occupiers is a major problem at the moment.”
Mr Breach said there was also a question mark over whether there would be a hotel on the site and that the retail and hospitality sectors were still ‘under the cosh’. .
He said that the focus of the development of the five acre site, which is bounded by Bourges Boulevard, Lincoln Road, Bright Street, and Westgate, was likely to be residential.
Mr Breach has been working on the site’s development for 23 years,
He first submitted plans for North Westgate in 2003.
He dropped a 2015 approval for plans that included a cinema after the neighbouring Queensgate Shopping Centre also gained permission for a cinema.
His plans for a hotel, commercial and residential development and a cinema were approved by the city council in 2018.
But that permission elapsed a couple of years later after the company failed to submit details about so-called ‘reserved matters’.
In 2024 council officers hoped to ‘get the site away’ in 24 months - by 2026.
Councillor Numan Ali Iqbal, cabinet member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “North Westgate is a key site for regeneration within our city centre.
“We remain open to discussions with any landowner or potential developer to bring this area forward to deliver the best outcomes for our existing communities and our growing city."