Mayor reaches out to private sector in bid to provide free parking for Peterborough city centre

Offering free parking in Peterborough, as well as in Huntingdon, was a key part of Mayor Paul Bristow’s manifesto ahead of his election last year.

Total funding of £1.25 million has been set aside to achieve this plan.

Talks have been ongoing with Peterborough City Council since last year but a lasting deal has yet to be agreed.

Mayor Bristow has described the council’s offer as “not quite generous enough” and stated that the Combined Authority will now undertake a procurement exercise to find providers for the scheme, which will also involve the private sector.

Mayor Bristow said: “We have got £1.5m that has been made available for free parking in both Peterborough and the Hunts towns. We are very keen to ensure that the conversations in Huntingdonshire happen after the local elections and we are very excited about that project and we’ll be announcing more after the elections.

“In Peterborough, I am extremely grateful to Peterborough City Council but I feel that the offer is not quite generous enough and so we are going to go out and hold a procurement exercise, which may involve private providers as well.

“Not all the car parks are owned by the council, there are rules around procurement but it is so important that we get the most generous offer for residents, retail businesses, hospitality and the make sure we get good bang for our buck. That’s why, as well as the council, I want to involve the private sector to get the possible deal we can for the money we are making available.”

In response, Peterborough City Council has said that three options were provided to the Combined Authority to deliver free parking and it is awaiting a response.

A spokesperson for PCC said: “The CPCA has given us an indication of the funding it can offer to provide an element of free parking in Peterborough and we have provided three options. At this stage we await feedback from the CPCA on how they would like to proceed.”