Peterborough City Council cabinet approves request for £6m Towns Fund money for three city projects

Peterborough City Council cabinet approved a request for £6 million from the Towns Investment Plan (TIP), part of the government Levelling Up Programme.

Upon approval from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), funding will be awarded to the council within three months.

Each of the three projects which have business cases prepared are The River Nene Pedestrian Bridge (£2m), the Lincoln Road area (£2.5m) and the Peterborough Station Quarter (£1.5m).

The funding is part of the TIP submitted to government in late 2020 which, in January 2021, resulted in a grant of £22.9m from the Levelling Up Programme to enhance Peterborough city centre through economic growth and development.

The £22.9m funding covers eight projects, four of which have already been put forward for funding.

The River Nene Bridge, Lincoln Road area and Peterborough Station Quartre represent a second phase of our funding requests.

Speaking to the cabinet at their meeting (20 June), Charlotte Palmer, head of service, environment, highways and transport, said: “Cyclists and pedestrians travelling from the north to the south of the city passing over the Nene know that Town Bridge is very busy with traffic and a new bridge option would be much safer and link Peterborough embankment and the new University to Fletton Quays.”

The design the council have looked at spans 101m over 67m of water making a statement feature across the river.

She added:“In the Lincoln Road area we’re looking at ground improvements between Windmill Street and Searjeant Street where a huge number of businesses currently operate.

“At the moment there are uneven pavements, a total absence of green space, as well as littering and parking issues.

“What we’re looking to do is improve the safety and environment of the public realm areas, install four sites of plantings, improving the paving and more litter bins and street furniture as well as two new pedestrian crossings.

“The third project would see cycle and pedestrian links installed from the city to the Peterborough railway station quarter.

“Small improvements to the road layout will have a huge effect on the approach to the station for pedestrians and cyclists and we’re looking at a number of these.

“One of the larger public realm interventions would be to ensure better public and disabled access into the shopping centre from the station.”

Plans have now reached the design stage and will be put to public consultation in July.

By Robert Alexander, Local Democracy Reporter.