Uncertainty over future of £6 million climbing wall plan for Peterborough parkland

Peterborough City Council has revealed it is unlikely to provide an additional £1,073,280 financial backing for the venture that would see the construction of a 10 metre high Lakeside Activity Centre near Gunwade Lake at Ferry Meadows that would offer bouldering activities for people of all ages.

However, council chiefs say that a £1.45 million grant agreed several years ago is still committed to the Activity Centre.

The move comes after years of uncertainty about the final costs of the Nene Park Trust project for which the original vision was a 34 metre high Olympic-grade Climbing Wall and activity centre on the site.

It was first proposed in 2018 at a cost of £5 million and was hoped to be in place for the Olympics in 2020.

But the project was plagued by soaring construction costs that are believed to have risen to £14 million and which eventually prompted the decision to downsize the venture earlier this year.

Now council chiefs say ongoing worries over the costs and the ability to deliver the project have meant that a proposal to top up the £1.45 million by £1,073,280 is unlikely to happen.

Councillor Numan Ali Iqbal, the council’s cabinet member for growth and regeneration, said: "The assessment completed by Peterborough City Council officers identified concerns over cost certainty, remaining funding gap, financial sustainability and deliverability relative to the size of the additional request.

"The project would provide leisure and visitor benefits, and Nene Park Trust has committed some reserves.

"But even with additional Towns Fund support, the project would continue to carry financial and delivery risk."

The move comes as the local authority looks to shake up the financing for its Town Fund projects.

The Climbing Wall project has been part of the council’s Towns Fund portfolio ever since the financing venture was set up by the Conservative government in 2019 and Nene Park Trust’s chief executive Matthew Bradbury has been the Peterborough Towns Fund board’s chairman since its inception.

But members of the council’s ruling cabinet, which meets on October 2, will be recommended not to support the Climbing Wall project for extra funding as they look to reallocate cash following the sale of the former TK Maxx store in Bridge Street and the proposed sale of Goods Shed at Fletton Quays, which have provided about £4,495,000 for reallocation within the Towns Fund programme.

The money will likely be shared between the Centre for Green Technology at Peterborough College which gets an extra £1,244,820 bringing the total award to £3,184,820, Peterborough Station Quarter (City Link) will rise by £1,500,000 to £2,955,000

and Peterborough Central Library’s refurbishment will rise by £350,000 to £7,156,376. There is another £1million for Cygnet Bridge bringing its total award to £2,940,000.

A refurbishment of Peterscourt, which will become part of the Vine cultural hub with the library and the Goods Shed, will be increased by £250,000 taking the total sum to £1,438,296.

Nene Park has been approached for a response.