Local Elections 2026: Green Party leader explains how she will address PT readers’ concerns if her party wins election

In less than 24 hours, we received hundreds of replies on social media from people of all ages and backgrounds, eager to share their thoughts, feelings and opinions.

We put these concerns to all six of the local party leaders who are campaigning to become Leader of the Council on May 8.

This is what the leader of the Green Party, Councillor Heather Skibsted, said she would do to tackle the city’s most pressing issues if her party triumphed in the 2026 local elections.

PT READERS HAVE VOICED ANXIETIES ABOUT THE STATE OF PETERBOROUGH CITY CENTRE, WITH ISSUES LIKE BEGGING, ABSENT TOILETS, STREET-SLEEPING, AND CRIPPLING BUSINESS RATES BEING OF PARTICULAR CONCERN. WHAT WILL YOU DO, IF YOU BECOME LEADER OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON MAY 8, TO IMPROVE THE CITY CENTRE?

“The Peterborough Green Party would like to see an attractive and modern city centre, especially around the Guild Hall and Cathedral in the Cathedral Square area.

There is some funding already available for this project and the area needs greenery in the shape of small trees, planters and flowers and modern attractive seating areas.

There still needs to be space for markets etc, but much could be done to make this space a centre piece for the city to showcase our wonderful heritage assets.

“We would agree there should be public toilets in the central area and many city centres use self service cubicles rather than the old fashioned toilet blocks, which would need to have attendants and therefore be more costly.

“More should be done to prevent the need for street sleeping and we believe that business rates should of course be affordable to attract the right sort of businesses to our high street – not more vape and betting shops.

"The Embankment space should also be improved to attract more visitors with a range of cafes and leisure activities.”

MANY PT READERS HIGHLIGHTED EXPENSIVE PARKING AND POT-HOLED ROADS AS ISSUES THEY’D LIKE TO SEE THE NEW COUNCIL TACKLE AT PACE. HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT DEALING WITH THESE ISSUES IF YOU WERE COUNCIL LEADER?

“The Greens would like to see better public transport which would lead to a reduction of cars in the city centre in the future, but parking could be made cheaper at certain times and for certain areas.

“The road surfaces in Peterborough are very poor in many areas and proper resurfacing, not just temporary filling of potholes, is definitely a priority if the Green Party were in administration.”

ISSUES WITH CRIME &ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE CITY ARE CLEARLY UPPERMOST IN PT READERS’ MINDS. MANY HAVE SUGGESTED DEPLOYING MORE VISIBLE POLICE FOOT PATROLS TO DETER CRIMINALITY AND MAKE PEOPLE FEEL SAFE. IS THIS SOMETHING YOU WOULD CONSIDER IF YOU WERE TO BECOME LEADER?

“The council is not in control of policing, but we believe the government should provide cities with more police officers so that their presence can be felt on the streets and provide a sense of security.

“Visibility is an important aspect and for many years people have felt that they never see police officers any more. There have been some enforcement officers from the council employed in the centre – there could be more of these on the streets [during] the evenings in the city centre.”

AND, FINALLY - FLY-TIPPING. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR NEW ADMINISTRATION’S APPROACH TO TACKLING THIS PERSISTENTLY TROUBLESOME ISSUE?

“Fly-tipping is a major problem and we would like to first ascertain why the current policy is not working as Peterborough, alongside Luton, are the two worst cities in the Eastern region for fly-tipping.

“It is a complex issue and just clearing up the fly tip constantly is not addressing the issue from the root cause and is in itself very expensive.

We need to consider a multi pronged approach of :

1. More education to the public via leaflets, social media, etc;

2. More accessibility to allow people to dispose of bulky waste easily free of charge;

3. More visibility of fines being issued for offenders with a rapid response to any information regarding fly-tipping, which would need more resources to the enforcement teams than is currently the case. This would serve as a deterrent to others.

“If all these measures are put in place we believe there could be a significant reduction in fly-tipping going forward.”