£1.5 milion city centre revamp plans to be approved and made public

At a Full Council meeting at Sand Martin House on Wednesday, July 1, councillors heard how blueprints to improve the city centre will soon be presented to Peterborough MP, Andrew Pakes, for approval.

Councillor Numan Iqbal shared the latest update with his council colleagues:

“As members are aware, the council has been awarded £1.5m Pride in Place impact funding and officers have been developing plans in consultation with others, including the Business Improvement District (BID) and the Peterborough Tourist Board, to invest this funding in the heart of the city centre,” he explained.

“Proposals are to be presented to our MP at the beginning of July, as a condition of the grant is that he is consulted and endorses the plans before it is published.”

Cllr Iqbal confirmed that, once the MP has had his say, the general public will get their chance to see what the new improvements will entail.

“I hope we will then be in a position to share the details publicly,” he declared.

Council Leader, Dr Shabina Qayyum elaborated on the matter:

“I’m pleased to share with members that progress has been made on developing a plan for how we will spend the £1.5m Pride in Place funding for our city centre,” she said

“Today, the planters have already gone up!” she added, highlighting the new fleet of hanging baskets which now adorn the Guildhall.

“Watch this space for more information,” she offered.

Central government announced its £5 billion Pride in Place programme in September 2026. The initiative saw 169 areas across the country selected to receive £2 million every year for a decade.

Peterborough was awarded £40 million of this to support community regeneration within Paston, Gunthorpe and Welland, as well as the Orton Malborne and Goldhay areas.

In addition to this, Peterborough – along with 95 other locations – was also awarded an immediate £1.5 million in impact funding.

Since that announcement, speculation has been rife about how that money should be spent across Peterborough city centre.

Various councillors have suggested notions like re-purposing the Guildhall, greening the Cathedral Square and creating infrastructure to accommodate regular market days.

Calls for the re-establishment of public toilets by both elected officials and members of the public have also been highly vocal.

Cllr Iqbal said that, whatever the final plans may look like, they will be implemented on site and ready for use in less than a year:

“Works are required to be completed by March 2027,” he said.